


The Lion That Claimed The Sky

by TheDarkestDandelion



Series: The Daemon, the Soldier and a Stolen Bio-Weapon AU [15]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Buying a HOUSE, Death Threats, Disagreement, Drunk Somnus, Fluff and Humor, Good Ardyn Izunia, Idiots in Love, Kissing, Love, Marriage Proposal, Moving In Together, Multi, Party, Protective Ardyn Izunia, Protective Cor Leonis, Somnus is a Dick, Speeches, Stag Nights & Bachelor Parties, Threats of Violence, Time Skips, Trust, Violence, Wedding Fluff, Wedding Night, Wedding Planning, Wedding Speeches, happiness, happy fic, mischievous, wedding fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-08-14 00:50:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20183518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDarkestDandelion/pseuds/TheDarkestDandelion
Summary: Cor never thought he would fall in love, let alone be in a relationship with someone. And here he was, about to ask Ardyn Lucis Caelum to marry him.Like any normal person was, he was nervous about popping the question. But that didn't matter, because Ardyn was Cor's world and he could no longer imagine a life without the messed up royal.





	1. Ardyn Lucis Caelum... Will You Marry Me?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Shiary](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shiary/gifts).

> And here is the Proposal/Wedding fic! 
> 
> I know I am doing this series in such a random order but I am just writing the stories when I feel motivated too and when the idea's spring to mind.
> 
> Hope you enjoy :)

It was the 21st of January and the Grand Hall of the Citadel was packed with Lords and Ladies who had all come to celebrate the King’s and Queen’s first wedding anniversary.

The day was hectic. Anyone who was available from either the guard or glaive were on dutym and unlike Regis’s and Aulea’s day that started when the first guests arrived at midday, the servants, guard’s and glaives day started at 5 o’clock sharp. Because Cor had recently been appointed as the Marshal of the Crownsguard, it meant that he was overseeing the guard while Clarus was to ensure that both Regis and Aulea were safe throughout the day, whilst checking on his heavily pregnant wife to ensure that she was comfortable. Cor did suggest that Somnus could help Clarus today, but like the dick he was, he refused and slept until the evening when the dinner began. Luckily, Ardyn offered to step in and did whatever the Shield required him to do. Be that keeping an eye on Regis while Clarus went to speak to Dianella, or keeping Dianella company while Clarus was caught up in saving Regis from the horrors of small talk. 

After dinner there was a firework display and people started dancing and drinking to the King’s and Queen’s happy and long marriage. Cor thought the day had gone smooth enough. There wasn’t any hiccups on the guard’s part, and as far as he could tell, Regis and Aulea had enjoyed themselves. The only downside to the day was that he didn’t get to see Ardyn much. Just the odd conversation in passing. It didn’t matter too much as Cor was going to see Ardyn once the night was over, but it would have been nice to see more of him. However, that was not the thing that Cor had to worry about. No, he had to worry about a very drunk Somnus Lucis Caelum making a fool of himself.

Somnus was just lucky Ardyn was occupied with Regis and Dianella, otherwise, he would be over here like a shot, filming the whole thing.

Cor watched as Somnus down whatever was in his glass and gave the Founder King a cold expression as he stumbled towards him. To be honest, it was pretty funny, and by the looks of it, Somnus was going to be very ill in the morning.

When Somnus reached Cor he carelessly wrapped an arm around his shoulders and slurred his words out whilst shouting. “You know what Leonis, my brother really loves you.”

“Yeah, I know.” Cor laughed, scrunching his nose up at the smell of vodka on Somnus.

“No. No. No. I mean he reallllly loves you. Like 2000 years’ worth of love.”

“I know Somnus. Astrals, how much have you had to drink?” Cor laughed harder. Cor really wished Ardyn was here to see this. It was a shame that Cor couldn’t get his phone out of his pocket, as Somnus was insisting on pulling him down to his height and crushing his side.

Somnus tried to place his finger on his nose to show Cor how un-drunk he was, and when he touched his cheek instead of his goal, Somnus’s face lit up with glee. “Not enough. Listen, listen, to me…”

“I am.” Cor rolled his eyes, in pity.

“You are literally everything to him. And if I wasn’t a complete bastard 2000 years ago, he would have probably asked you to marry him by now. But… he’s scared that I am going to cock it up for him again. Is the room spinning?”

_Marriage? Really? _

Cor and Ardyn had only been together for nearly two years and Ardyn would have asked him that already? No, Somnus was probably chatting complete bullcrap, Ardyn would never tell his brother something so personal like that. Although… Somnus had known Ardyn for the longest and maybe he wasn’t wrong. But that was clearly rushing into things, right? Surely, people waited at least three years before they popped the question. Regis and Aulea had been together since Cor first enlisted into the Crownsguard and they only got married a year ago. The talk of marriage was rushing things a bit.

Or was it….

Cor had had a crush on the immortal daemon since he was 17, that was nearly five years ago. He guessed from Ardyn’s point of view, 10 years probably only felt like 1 to him. So no, that thought didn’t really seem that odd to the Marshal after he had a chance to ponder on Somnus’s words. Cor did love Ardyn as much as Somnus was claiming that Ardyn loved him. Scrap that last part, Cor knew for a fact Ardyn loved him that much, because he told him every day how he felt about him. Yes, to start with it was a little uncomfortable but Cor had gotten used to it now. The thought of Ardyn made Cor smile. Ardyn really was a hopeless romantic sometimes.

Huh? Why was the thought of marriage suddenly starting to grow on the young Marshal?

However, another thought dawned on him. The way Somnus said it, implied that Ardyn was never going to ask Cor himself. Guessing what happened with Aera, Ardyn did not want to tempt fate. Yes, that was probably it. Because to his knowledge, Ardyn had never been married before they got together. Somnus had. Somnus had lots of times in the past 2000 years, but Ardyn. Not at all. 

Somnus suddenly let go of Cor and wandered off to a nearby table that was full to its capacity with bottles of champagne and wine. This was not good.

Cor quickly rushed over to Somnus and took the bottle of red wine he had just opened and was about to chug. “Come on oh mighty Founder King let’s not upstage your Grandson on his 1st wedding anniversary.”

“I would definitely do that. Let’s go find him.” Somnus smiled like a child, turned on his heels, and began to sway as he walked towards the center of the hall.

“Somnus! For fuck sake, I am not looking after your sorry arse all night.” Cor grumbled, following after a very drunk Somnus.

* * *

Over the following weeks Cor put further thought into Somnus’s words.

And Cor soon discovered that he and Ardyn were basically married already.

Cor had basically moved into Ardyn’s private quarters, Ardyn always cooked him dinner, Ardyn always ensured his clothes were neatly put away and ironed. Ardyn would even pack his stuff when he went out on missions and was always a bag of nerves until he returned. Without fail when they went to bed, Ardyn ensured he told Cor how much he loved him and kissed him before going to sleep. And Ardyn was the first person that Cor had truly opened up too. He had told Clarus and Regis things but it didn’t compare to all the shit he had told Ardyn. Vies Versa, Ardyn had confided and trusted Cor with things that he could never tell Somnus or Regis.

On that thought, Cor made up his mind.

He was going to make it official and marry that mess of a royal.

The only problem was, Cor was not a hopeless romantic. Cor would be fine with watching a film with Ardyn and just asking him to marry him there and then. But… Cor was willing to step out of his comfort zone for Ardyn. Because if he was going to do this, he was going to do it right.

And in order for that to happen, he needed 5 things. One of which he already had. The keys to Ardyn’s quarters.

The second thing he needed was a ring. No problem he could buy one.

The third thing he needed to ensure was that it was unexpected. Which was going to be easy to achieve, because the topic of marriage didn’t really tend to come up in conversation that often, meaning that Cor wouldn’t have to hide anything.

The fourth thing was to make this proposal a little reckless. As Cor was the master of recklessness that wasn’t going to be an issue either. 

Finally, he needed to make sure Ardyn had an awful day before he asked the question. That way, he could turn Ardyn’s day around and ensure that this was a day that the royal was never going to forget. Cor knew exactly how to do that.

That was to ensure that Ardyn got to deal with the council after the first secretary of Accordo had finished their visit. Cor knew for certain that both Regis and Somnus were more than willing to hand that responsibility over to Ardyn. With a gentle nudge, that was what happened. And Ardyn was pissed off.

Which was exactly what Cor wanted.

* * *

Ardyn felt like crying.

He had been sitting here for ages, listening and mediating the mindless chatter of the council. Why did they always give this job to him? After the war with Niflheim had broken out, it always seemed to be Ardyn who had to deal with the disagreements of the council on Accordo’s loyalty. He was sick of it. When he got his hands on Somnus he was going to kill him for putting him through this yet again, and as for Regis… well, he could always give him a swirly. That wasn’t technically treason, right?

No, he was sure it wasn’t. Although, he did do that to the 109th King of Lucis and because of that incident, the King may have made that a treasonous act.

Just was Ardyn was about to calmly inform the council that they were acting like children there was a knock at the door.

_Thank you whoever you are!_ Ardyn thought to himself before quickly ordering the person to enter.

“Come in.”

Lord Dolor cleared his throat. “Your Grace this is fairly impor-”

“I don’t care. Whoever you are please come in.” Ardyn raised his voice and was so relieved that he may get at least a three-minute break with whatever nonsense this person had to say.

When it was Cor who opened the door, Ardyn finally allowed a smile to grow. Now, seeing Cor had made the day bearable again. Before Ardyn could greet his lovely Marshal, Lord Dolor interrupted him.

“Marshal Leonis what do you want?”

“His Former Majesty needs to have a word with His Grace.” Cor said, in his ‘robot mode’ voice.

Ardyn cocked his head to the side with a little confusion. Why in the world would Somnus be wanting to speak to him, after he had forced Ardyn through this torture? Somnus was bloody lucky that Ardyn didn’t snap his arm in two when he told him that he was going to be the one that dealt with the jumped-up fucking Lords and Ladies. No. Ardyn wasn’t going. He was going to be petty and do this job, just to make Somnus wait.

“Cor would you mind telling Somnus that this is really not the best time.”

“I am not joking. He really needs to talk to you. Not even his Majesty can calm him down.” Cor’s voice got more serious and in turn that made Ardyn begin to worry. Only very slightly of course. But what could have made Somnus only want to talk to him? 

Lord Dolor’s irritating voice found its way into the conversation again. “This is highly irreg-”

“That is your Founder King we are discussing so shut it. Right, meeting postpone. I’m coming.” Ardyn sighed and rose from his chair.

Because of how quickly Cor had left the room Ardyn’s worries started to grow a little more. What was wrong with Somnus?! Ardyn rushed down the hallway in the direction he had seen Cor go in and was confused as to why he wasn’t slowing down. If Somnus was upset, surely Cor would walk with him to keep Ardyn calm and talk him through what was going on. And after Ardyn turned the corner that Cor had just taken, the Marshal was nowhere to be seen. 

“Cor? Cor?”

Ardyn walked further down the hall and he couldn’t see the Marshal anywhere. Now he was just confused. What was going on?

Just as Ardyn was about to turn around and look behind him, he felt someone jump on to his back and wrapped their arms around his neck. Ardyn jumped out of his skin from the ambush and he was half tempted to flip them over and get them fired for scaring him. Then he realised it could have only been Cor.

“Are you trying to give me a heart attack?” Ardyn asked dramatically, placing a hand on his heart and turning his head so he could look at Cor.

“No. I am getting you out of that meeting.”

“Wha- Somnus doesn’t need me at all does he?”

“No.” Cor smiled, letting go of Ardyn and walking around him so that he was now in front of him. 

Ardyn smiled brightly at Cor and in a flash, he grabbed onto the Marshal’s hips and pulled him closer towards him. Ardyn then rested his nose against Cor’s and said lovingly. “I love you.”

“I know you do.” Cor smirked, closing the gap between them and purposely ground his hips up against Ardyn’s as he kissed him with fire. Ardyn was a little taken back at the advancement but he was not going to complain about the level of affection Cor was showing him. After five seconds of that lust heavy kiss, Cor pulled away. “I love you too.”

“You are being a tease.”

“Good.”

Ardyn’s vision was then showered in darkness as Cor had taken Ardyn’s hat off of his head and shoved it directly in his face. Ardyn staggered back and caught his hat before it fell on the floor. When he looked at the spot Cor had previously been in, the man had vanished and was now running down the hall. What in the name of the Six had gotten into Cor? 

“Cor, wait up!” Ardyn called after him while running to catch him up. He could warped but this was so much more entertaining. 

“Come on old man! I know you have more stamina then that!”

“Why you little...”

Cor laughed and ran towards the lift. If he had time this all correctly Regis would be getting into that particular lift right about now, and Cor would be able to squeeze through the door before it closed. Thankfully he had. He rushed into the gap and nearly fell into Wesk as the doors slammed shut. Cor quickly pressed what floor he needed to get to and relaxed a little.

Oh right, Regis, Clarus, and Wesk were in the lift with him. And they had no idea what he was doing.

“Hey, guys.” Cor nodded, pretending that he wasn’t up to anything. 

“What are you doing?” Regis asked as his heartbeat started to slowly get back into its normal rhythm after the fright Cor had just given him.

“Catching the lift.”

“Cor, what have you done this time?” Wesk asked giving him a knowing shake of disapproval.

“Nothing.”

“Don’t lie.” Clarus ordered. They all knew Cor far too well to know when he was up to no good.

“We know you are up to something.” Regis commented, trying to figure out what it could be.

“You’re not finding out yet.” Cor smirked. None of them had time to ask any more questions as the lift dinged open on the floor Cor was planning to get off at. And in the doorway, Ardyn was standing there looking very unimpressed. Cor ducked and quickly sprinted in the direction towards Ardyn’s quarters and shouted down the corridor at Ardyn. “Damn! What happened to no daemon magic being used in the Citadel!?”

“What happened to no running in the Citadel unless it’s an emergency!?” Ardyn called back, before turning to Regis, Clarus, and Wesk, giving them a cheerful smile. “Hello, you three. Must dash see you later.”

“Ardyn, come back here!” Regis called after his uncle as he too started to run in the direction Cor had just fled too. He had no idea what the hell those two were playing at. And by Ardyn’s lack of response, it became clear he wasn’t going to get an answer.

“They are perfect for each other. They both act like teenagers.” Clarus laughed.

“Couldn’t agree more with you.” Wesk agreed, getting back into the lift.

* * *

Ardyn ran after Cor all the way to his quarter’s and that was when Cor finally left the hall and ran into Ardyn’s private rooms. Ardyn let go a devilish smirk and decided to walk rather than run. He closed the door and walked over to his bedroom door, where he was certain Cor had rushed into. Ardyn tried the handle and it was locked.

_Oh, playing hard to get, I see._

“Cor Leonis open this door.” Ardyn ordered, tapping his foot against the floor.

“No.”

“I knew I shouldn’t have given you any keys. If you don’t open up I will just teleport in there.”

“You’re not allowed to do that.”

“If you don’t want me to get into trouble, then open the door.”

“No, I think it will be funny if you get into trouble. Anyway, you cheated and teleported to the floor. I think you are already in trouble.”

Ardyn laughed at Cor’s continued refusal to open the door. What game was he playing? “Oh you think it will be funny, do you? How about I show you how unpleasant I am going to make the rest of your day if I have to teleport in there.” 

“Bring it, Caelum.”

“Fine, I’ll count to three. One… Two… Three...” Ardyn teleported into his bedroom and laughed with pure enjoyment. They were both acting so childish and reckless. And Ardyn loved it. “See, do you really think that I car….”

Ardyn stopped what he was saying when he got a proper look at Cor. He felt his heart skip a beat as Cor was on one knee with a ring in his hands, smiling up at him. And it left Ardyn speechless. Speechless and stunned, he couldn’t even move his legs to get closer to Cor… he was just blown away by what he was seeing. 

Cor cleared his throat and took in a deep breath. There was no backing out now. “Ardyn Lucis Caelum. You are a complete and utter Ass Hat. You make my life hell and you drive me up the wall at any chance you get, but do you know what? I don’t want to ever be without that. I don’t want to ever be without you. So… will you marry me?”

“You… You want to marry me?” Ardyn asked in disbelief. He thought he was dreaming. No Cor wasn’t asking him what he had been hoping for, for a while now. No. This had got to be a prank of some sort.

_Or maybe not…_

“Yeah, you idiot. Hence the ring and me looking like a pillock kneeling on the floor. So, what do you say, do you want to get married?”

“Yes… Gods, yes I do!” Ardyn smiled and knelt down on the floor and kissed Cor hard. This was really happening and Ardyn couldn’t be happier. Cor broke their kiss for a moment and made it official by putting a silver ring on Ardyn’s ring finger. Ardyn looked at the ring, his heart melted, and he turned his gaze to Cor’s icy blue eyes. Ardyn never wanted to look away from them again because of this. “I love you. I love you so much.”

“I love you more.”

“Not possible.”

* * *

“Come back to bed.” Ardyn groaned as he tried to wrap his legs around Cor’s waist preventing him from leaving.

Cor shook his head as he stood up and searched around for his clothes, whilst explaining to Ardyn, for the fourth time in the last 2 minutes that he had to go. “Regis texted me, he needs the reports I was meant to hand in three hours ago.”

“My Marshal, what time is it?”

“01:35.”

“See it is far too late for either of you to be worrying about reports. Now, I would appreciate it if _my_ _fiancée_ got his arse back into bed.”

Cor smirked and accepted what Ardyn was saying. Regis could wait.

Cor straddled himself on top of Ardyn and intertwined their hands together. “Do you like calling me that?”

“I am going to call you that, at every chance I get.”

“I’ll hold you to that. _My fiancée_.”


	2. We're Getting Married!

“Rise and shine, my wonderful, handsome, reckless, irresistible fiancée.”

Ardyn whispered as he kissed Cor with every word he spoke. He was still on a high from yesterday’s proposal and he felt so blessed that this was really happening. Just to make sure all of this wasn’t a dream, as soon as he woke up he stared down at his hand and fiddled with the ring on his finger. This made him so happy that he thought he was going to burst. And waking up next to Cor was just the cherry on top of a fantastic morning.

Cor opened his eyes and smiled up at Ardyn. “Morning. You’re up before me, that’s unusual.”

“I think it is the excitement that came along with last night’s proposal.... along with a few other mind-blowing activities.”

“I am glad I made you happy Ass Hat.” Cor said sitting up. The young Marshal then rubbed his eyes to wake himself up.

“Happy? Are you joking? I am the happiest I have been in a very long time.” Ardyn knelt on his knees, kissed Cor on top of the head and then proceeded to nuzzle his face into his hair. He did not want to let Cor out of his sights today. The plan was to keep him in bed as long as he could, but he had a feeling that would piss Cor off.

Cor laughed and touched one of Ardyn’s hands with his own. Ardyn had amazed him again. Somehow, he had become clingier. He better not start doing this in public…

“That is good to hear. However, we both have to get up and see Regis.”

“Why? Can’t we stay in bed for a little longer?” Ardyn whined letting go of Cor’s head and drew his eyes level with the Marshal’s.

“No, because we need to ask him if we can book the Citadel for our wedding.”

* * *

Ardyn decided that he couldn’t contain his excitement and told Cor that it was best that Cor go and tell Regis and Clarus by himself, otherwise Ardyn was just going to blurt it out. Ardyn had a feeling, if he saw anyone, no matter who it was, he was going to tell them the news. It only seemed fair that the family be told first.

Cor was in two different minds sets about Ardyn’s idea. He was happy that Ardyn was trying to be as respectful as he could about his dislike for public affection, but he was pissed that Ardyn had left all the work to him. First, he needed to go to work and get those reports into Clarus before Regis got more annoyed at him. Once the morning routines had been done, Cor made his way to Regis’s quarters and he was greeted by Clarus who gave him a look of pity. That meant he was in trouble. Cor didn’t really care, Regis was going to tell him off and then apologise for it in three hours’ time. If Mors said one correct thing in his life, it was that Regis had a bleeding heart. That wasn’t a bad thing. But people could easily use it against him and Cor would kill whoever tried to do that. No one upset the King and got away with it, Cor didn’t even let Ardyn get away with it anymore.

When Cor came into the room, he saw Wesk on the sofa drinking a cup of tea. And next to him was Regis, crossing his arms over his chest and he was giving Cor a look of disappointment. “Right, are you willing to tell us why you insisted on acting like an 18-year-old yesterday?”

“And why you didn’t hand in the reports on time?” Clarus said sitting back down where he had been sitting before he let Cor in.

“Yeah. I got engaged.”

All three men looked at Cor like he had grown three heads and blinked at him with confusion. Cor didn’t say anything else for he felt it was enough explanation. He silently waited for them to bombard him with questions like: ‘Are you stupid?’ or ‘have you really thought this through?’ or ‘Who asked who?’ or ‘We are so happy for you little bro, do you need us to do anything for you?’. He got none of that. All he got was silence for about 20 seconds and then Regis started to laugh. Clarus soon caught the giggles and joined in.

Cor rolled his eyes. Great, they thought this was a joke.

“That’s a good one.” Clarus snorted as he picked up his coffee, that had been placed on the table.

They’re laughter continued, and Cor remained silent. They were so lucky that Ardyn wasn’t here, he would have been very offended by their reaction. Cor noticed that Wesk wasn’t laughing. At least one of them believed him.

“Gentleman.” Wesk warned. But his warning was ignored by more laughter.

“Very funny Cor now give me the real reason.” Regis said composing himself.

“I did.” Cor huffed, getting a little pissed off that they found this funny. In order to stop them from laughing like a bunch of schoolgirls, he further explained what happened last night. “Ardyn and I got engaged last night. Good enough reason for you? If you don’t believe me ask Ardyn.”

The penny finally dropped. Forcing Regis to sit forward and he shouted in amazement. “You’re getting married!”

Clarus looked at Cor, and also realised how serious he was being…. Then he realised he must have pissed Cor off. What he said next didn’t do him any favours. “I never thought I would hear you say that.”

Wesk shook his head. The King and Shield were both incredibly lucky that Cor had decided to remain calm and let their laughter and comments go over his head. And to try and defuse the situation the pair had found themselves in, Wesk stood up and gave Cor a hug to congratulate him.

“Congratulations Cor.”

“Thanks, Wesk. At least one of you is supportive.” Cor said narrowing his eyes at Regis and Clarus.

“Of course, I am supportive… I… just didn’t think you ever wanted to get married.” Regis said standing up and feeling incredibly guilty about his reaction.

“I never said I didn’t want to. I just don’t talk about it.”

Clarus remained in his seat, he didn’t really know what to say. He wanted to ask him if he felt like he was rushing into things. But he thought it best not to piss the Marshal off any further and asked what all three of them wanted to know. “Did Ardyn ask you?”

“No. I asked him.”

“Right, before you two dig yourselves into a whole you can’t get out of please don’t talk anymore.” Wesk ordered and placed both of his hands on Cor’s shoulders and gave him a smile of approval. “We are very happy for you Cor.”

“But…” Cor moaned, knowing by the tone that Wesk had just used, that he was in for a lecture. 

“You are going to have to be the one to tell Cid. Because if you don’t, I think he might find a way to make Ardyn not so immortal anymore.”

_Oh crap. _Cor forgot how much Cid hated Ardyn for a second. How could he forget that?

Cor shrugged his shoulders. “Not his life. Now, I need to tell Ardyn he can come out of hiding.”

* * *

Somnus was sleepily dragging himself through the hallways. He could think up at least 5 other things he would rather be doing then walking right now. But no, Regis had called him and ordered him to get his arse to his quarters at once. His first thought was that Aulea must be pregnant, then again, Regis would have sounded happier on the phone. His grandson sounded very alert and… confused? Heavens knows what had happened-

Somnus was violently pushed into the wall and he yelped in pain when his head hit into one of the lamps. He was then lifted off the ground and a hand was wrapped around his neck. Somnus immediately started to struggle and looked to see who it was. When his eyes met that of his brother’s, Somnus got angry and tried to shout at him while gasping for air.

“What are you doing?!”

Ardyn didn’t respond for a moment. He bore his teeth at his younger brother and hissed. When he thought he had Somnus’s undivided attention, Ardyn spoke very carefully and coldly at him. “I think I need to make one thing very clear to you. And do listen well Somnus because I am only going to say this once. If you hurt Cor, in any way, you are never going to see the light of day again. I don’t care if you can come back because I am certain I can dig you a deep enough hole, so you don’t crawl out of it. From there you will continue to suffocate and choke on soil for the rest of your miserable existence. Got it.”

“Yes!”

“I don’t think you do.” Ardyn growled with his grip getting tighter on Somnus’s neck.

“Yes, Ardyn I do!” Somnus said trying to kick at him to get him to stop.

“ARDYN! What in the name of the Six are you doing!”

Somnus relaxed a little when he heard Regis’s voice, but despite the grand appearance from the King, Ardyn refused to put him down.

“Just having a brotherly chat.” Ardyn’s reply was littered with hatred. Somnus didn’t have a clue what had brought this on.

“Put him down!” Regis ordered and for a split second, Somnus thought Ardyn was going to take Regis’s words literally. Thankfully he didn’t and Ardyn aggressively threw Somnus on the floor instead. Somnus started to gasp for air and he put his hand to his head where he had hit the lamp. He was fucking bleeding. Regis took hold of Somnus’s arm and helped him to his feet. “Grandfather, are you alright?”

“No! He’s a psychopath!” Somnus screamed, putting more pressure spot where Ardyn had cut his head open.

“Does that mean you didn’t listen to a word I just said?” Ardyn said darkly taking a step closer to him.

Regis stepped in front of Somnus and glared at his uncle. “That is quite enough. Now, can one of you kindly tell me what that was about?”

“I haven’t a fucking clue.” Somnus said getting a potion out of his armiger and downing it to heal the cut on his head. Fuck, Ardyn was insane sometimes.

“I am just telling him what happens if he hurts Cor.”

“I am not going too.”

“Good.”

This was why Regis had called Somnus to come and find him as soon as he could. He knew for certain his uncle was going to do something unspeakable to his grandfather, Regis was just relieved he got there before Ardyn had done any more damage. “Uncle, that’s not fair. You haven’t told him why you did that, have you?”

“I wasn’t aware I needed to tell him what happens in my private life.” Ardyn said with venom staring at his brother.

Knowing it was a good idea to back off and keep silent, Somnus retreated into the wall.

“They’re getting married.”

“Oh…. Oh!” Somnus’s face dropped and he violently nodded at Ardyn, finally understanding how serious this issue was. “Understood. Got it.”

“Excellent, ta, ta, now.”

Ardyn walked away, whistling and pretending that the entire thing hadn’t happened. Somnus basically fell into the wall with relief and he was just thankful Ardyn hadn’t broken his neck. When Regis turned to Somnus, the King did not look at all happy.

“Regis, I think it is for the best that you don’t tell Cor about this.”

“I am not going to telling him. I am texting him.”

* * *

“OI! Hurting your brother is not going to do you any favours.” Cor said shaking his head at Ardyn as he walked over to his desk.

Ardyn squeezed one of his many stress balls in one of his hands and let out a sigh of pure frustration. Did Somnus really not listen to him? “Did he tell you?”

“No, Regis did. Ardyn, you can’t go around hurting Somnus.” Cor pulled up a chair to sit next to his fiancée. 

“I can, and I did.”

“It’s a bit psychotic.”

“I don’t really care.”

Cor ran his hand through Ardyn’s hair to get his attention. He understood why he had done that, but it was still uncalled for. “I care. You are better than that. You are better than him.”

“I just wanted to make sure he doesn’t hurt you.” Ardyn said quietly, gently resting his free hand on Cor’s knee and began to stroke it.

“You are being paranoid. And Somnus isn’t stupid enough to do that again. Okay?”

“Got it.”

Ardyn didn’t really get it. He only said that to make Cor happy. He was not trusting Somnus at all. He was going to do everything in his power to ensure that Cor was safe. Maybe, he was acting a little paranoid. But he really didn’t care, all he wanted was Cor to be safe.

“Now you are apologising.” Cor ordered letting go of Ardyn’s hair and standing up, so Ardyn could get it out of the way.

Ardyn lent back in his chair and shook his head. “No, I am not.”

“Why are you acting like a child?”

“Because I can.”

* * *

**ROYAL WEDDING!**

_“His Royal Highness Ardyn Lucis Caelum and Marshal Cor Leonis of the Crownsguard are engaged to be married. The engagement was announced last night by His Royal Majesty Regis Lucis Caelum CXIII, and the King has stated that the pair couldn’t be happier. As of yet His Former Royal Majesty Somnus Lucis Caelum I, has not addressed his brother’s engagement….”_

**His Grace And The Marshal Are Getting Hitched!**

**THE IMMORTAL’S ARE GETTING MARRIED!!**

The next morning Cor woke up to the news of his engagement to Ardyn everywhere. It was all over the news, all over social media, and in every newspaper around Lucis. The news had more than likely reached Accordo, Tenebrae, and Niflheim as well. And when he went to train the guard, all of them congratulated him. It was a little suffocating. Apparently, the internet suddenly knew ‘everything’ about Cor’s life and it was starting to irritate him. About 90% of the stuff he read was utter bullshit and he couldn’t believe that people fed into these lies. He had no idea how Ardyn and Somnus had managed to cope with this invasion of privacy for so long.

So on his lunchbreak, Cor went to Regis and Clarus and allowed them to know how stressed he was feeling. 

“I didn’t know it was going to get this much attention.”

“Cor, you are marrying a member of the royal family, what did you expect?” Clarus laughed. It was bad enough when he and Dianella got married and he was only the Shield of the King. Cor was not going to enjoy what was in store for him.

“I don’t know.” Cor sighed, Clarus was never any help.

Regis cleared his throat and handed Cor his phone. “Cor… did you forget something?”

“What?”

“Cid’s on the phone.”

“Shit.” Cor muttered under his breath and took the phone from the King. He knew he had forgotten something. He was in for a right rollicking. “….Hey Cid.”

_“DON’T YOU DARE HEY ME KID! WHAT THE FUCKIN’ HELL ARE YOU PLAYI....”_

* * *

Ardyn was too distracted with spoiling the three-day-old little Gladiolus Amicitia to be bothered with Cor at the moment. Which gave Cor the perfect opportunity to find Somnus. Cor couldn’t get Ardyn to apologise for the attack and the pair hadn’t really spoken much since. Whenever Cor tried to bring Somnus up, Ardyn changed the subject. It was very childish but if Cor could convince Somnus to take the first step and talk to his brother it would make things easier. And by the looks of it, Somnus didn’t want to try either.

Cor knocked on the door and was greeted by Somnus’s voice, but he wasn’t telling him to come in. “If you don’t want to be the cause of one of my many deaths, don’t talk to me for a while.”

“You two need to talk.” Cor said letting himself in and closed the door shut so they could have some privacy.

“He doesn’t want too.” Somnus said not looking up from his newspaper.

“Somnus listen, I am sorry if I have caused a rift between the two of you...”

That made Somnus laugh. “Caused one? Cor the rift started to grow when our parents died.”

“One of you has to try, and we both know he won’t be the one to do it.”

“I know you are trying to help him, but us talking is only going to piss him off.” Somnus let go of a sigh, finally looking up from his paper. It was only a matter of time before Ardyn came looking for Cor and Somnus was going to get it in the neck. Quite literally.

“Somnus, Ardyn does love you, you know that.”

“I love him too. But hate and love are very similar emotions Leonis. Sometimes, Ardyn can’t tell the difference.”

* * *

“My Marshal, considering we are getting married I think it is time that we venture away from the Citadel.” Ardyn suggested taking a bite of his dinner, that he had cooked for them.

“You want to move out together.” Cor replied, finishing his dinner and pushing his plate away. He had definitely made the right choice in asking Ardyn to marry him. It wasn’t as good as Wesk’s cooking but he still loved it.

“Yes.”

Cor nodded. “Done. I don’t really want to live where I work for much longer.”

“Really? I thought you would have said the opposite. I know how much of a workaholic you are.” Ardyn teased.

“I want to make you happy. And I know for certain we will be happier if we live someplace else.” Cor smiled back. This idea probably came about so Ardyn could get away from Somnus. If they moved in together, it meant Ardyn would have less time to be at his brother’s throat.

* * *

The following week, they went house hunting. Ardyn had already booked a day off for them. Which was strange to the Marshal because it was only one day. If Ardyn expected it to be done like that quickly, then he needed a reality check. Finding a house normally took a long time. Not to mention the money, buying all the furniture, telling Regis that they were moving, Cor getting more time off, so they could settle in… it was all going to be a nightmare. Not to mention, they had a wedding to prepare for as well. This was going to give Cor so many migraines. Damn Gilgamesh for slicing his head open and giving him everlasting head pain.

However, when they looked at the first house and the estate agent had given them some space to inspect the property further, it seemed that the royal had already made up his mind. 

“This is perfect.”

“This is literally the first house.” Cor said, taken back by his fiancée’s statement.

“Yes, but it has a big living room. A decent kitchen. A small room under the stairs, where I can put my books. Upstairs, there is a lovely bathroom and three bedrooms, where you can put your weapons and have your own office. And a beautiful back garden to relax in. You can’t deny my darling, that this is the best house we are going to get.”

“You don’t know that. There might be a better house somewhere else.”

“There’s not. It seems I forgot to mention, I have been looking at houses for a while now.”

“How long is a while?” Cor asked feeling a little stupid. This was Ardyn, of course, he would come out with something like that.

“Darling, I wanted to move out of the Citadel for over 50 years. But Mors was a prick and said no. Then we started dating and then you became Marshal and there wasn’t really a right time to move. But now we are getting married, so I put all my effort into getting the best house, closest to the Citadel so it doesn’t interrupt us working.” Ardyn smiled and kissed Cor quickly before walking around the living room once more, just to check there weren’t any holes in the wall.

“How do you always manage to surprise me?” Cor shook his head, again, this was probably to get away from Somnus. But the fact, he stopped looking for a house years ago just so they could be close to each other was rather touching.

“Because I love you.”

“Same here Ass Hat.”

In the next 20 minutes, they signed everything and brought the house. Just so Cor didn’t feel like he was leeching off of Ardyn’s fortune, they made him the main account holder. The estate agent told them that the family that currently own the property had also found a house and that they could move in at the end of the month. Which annoyed Ardyn because it meant he had to spend yet another Founder’s Day under the same roof as Somnus.

And when Cor told Regis what was happening the King cried. Cor thought it was because he was moving out to start with, but no it turned into a ‘_my baby brother, is all grown up’_ situation. Cor got annoyed and left Regis in Aulea’s care and decided that they could tell Clarus and Wesk because he did not want a repeat of that.

* * *

Moving was very stressful.

Being one of the Main Advisors to the King and the Marshal of the Crownsguard, meant that Regis could only spare them for a single weekend. In that time, they had to paint the house, buy everything for the house, move some of Ardyn’s crap from the Citadel to the house and all of Cor’s. The moving of stuff was the easiest part because Ardyn put it all in his armiger and put the boxes where they needed to go in the new house. Wesk did offer to help, but the pair got snappy and declined the offer.

They started painting on Thursday night and finished on Friday. On Friday evening, they placed down all the carpets and set up their bedroom and the bathroom, so they could spend the night there. On Saturday morning, all their deliveries came, and the pair just shoved the items in what room it was going to live in. In the late afternoon, they cleared out their stuff from the Citadel and worked tirelessly into the early hours of the morning to ensure that the living room and kitchen was up together. They knew they weren’t going to complete everything on Sunday and anything that wasn’t done by the evening was shoved into one of the spare rooms for the time being.

At 19:00, the pair sat down on the sofa, made themselves a cup of coffee and relaxed after a long and stressful weekend. They decided to set the TV, Internet, and Landline up tomorrow as Ardyn said he would just do it all over the phone and they remained on the sofa for about an hour before they thought it best that they have an early night. Their first proper night, in their nearly finished home.

But before Cor could move, Ardyn held out a hat full of pieces of scrap folded paper in front of him. 

“What is this?”

“It’s a hat full of months. Now, pick one.” Ardyn smiled brightly.

Cor realised what he was doing. “This is how we are going to pick our wedding date is it?”

“You like being reckless, so here you are my darling.”

Cor smirked and dived his hand into the hat. He rummaged around for a bit and then pulled a piece of paper out. “June.”

Ardyn made the first hat disappear in a flash of pink and it was replaced with another hat. “Now pick a date.”

“You have put a lot of thought into this.” Cor smiled and picked the first bit of paper that touched his hand. “30th.”

“Finally, a year.” Ardyn said repeating the process for the third time.

“2 years-time.”

“Cor Leonis. We have settled on a date.” Ardyn smiled and kissed his soon-to-be husband.


	3. The Mess That Is Wedding Planning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right.... so I may have just realised that I messed up the timeline in 'Hello, Noct' and 'Babysitting a Sunbeam'. I have fixed them both now, luckily it wasn't anything drastic. Basically instead of Ardyn and Cor being married for a year in 'Hello, Noct' it should have been 2 months. Forgot to edit it that part. And with 'Babysitting a Sunbeam', Prom is 2 not 1 years old. 
> 
> Now, everything makes sense and I am no longer stressing over it. 
> 
> Also, sorry about how long this chapter is. I just kept writing and writing and writing....
> 
> Hope you enjoy. :)

“….disco ball, fireworks and a massive parade!”

“Ardyn, calm down.” Cor asked rubbing his temple, sitting at the table opposite Ardyn.

They had been at this for three hours, coming up with possible ideas for what they could have for there wedding, like themes, colours and who was attending. But the problem was that Ardyn wanted everything that the pair had come up with so far. Because Ardyn was royalty it meant that their budget was fairly big, but not THAT big. Cor understood how excited Ardyn was but all of this planning was starting to bring about one of his migraines and Ardyn’s energetic personality was not helping to ease the pain. He needed to lay down in a dark room, not be sorting through endless pieces of paper at the moment.

“Are you alright?” Ardyn responded, changing his demeanour from overexcited to concerned.

“Yes, it’s only my head. Look, we have over a year and a half to decide on everything, we don’t need to finalise everything tonight.”

“Darling, this is a royal wedding. It needs to be the event of the year.” Ardyn smiled and kept his voice down so he didn’t cause Cor anymore discomfort.

“Does it need to be that big?”

“Yes.” Ardyn laughed and then realised how uncomfortable Cor looked. “Why, what’s wrong?”

Cor was hoping Ardyn didn’t ask that question. The Marshal did not want to upset his future husband at all but… Cor did not do public affection at all. He didn’t even allow Regis or Clarus to hug him unless he was on the verge of tears. (Which rarely happened) And the thought of having a wedding that big really didn’t sit right with him. Cor knew if he said something Ardyn was going to get upset because this was what he had always wanted. However, if they were going to get married they needed to be able to confide in each other with everything, including this. 

Cor scratched the back of his neck and spoke carefully. “Look I know that you are very excited, and I understand this is probably going to be one of the biggest days of our lives, but… you know I am not big on affection.”

Ardyn’s face shifted to that of guilt. “Quite. Sorry, My Marshal, I didn’t mean to get carried away.”

That was what he didn’t want to happen. This wasn’t Ardyn’s fault.

Cor reached across the table and grabbed Ardyn’s hand. “Don’t be sorry. That doesn’t mean it can’t be huge, but I would just like it to be toned down a little.”

After that, the pair decided to put wedding planning to a halt for the evening. Cor’s head got worse, so they went to bed and Ardyn scratched his head until the Marshal fell asleep. Ardyn felt like an arse. He hadn’t actually taken Cor’s personality into account at all. Unfortunately, there was no escaping how huge this wedding was going to be. It would be televised across what remained of Lucis, like Regis’s wedding to Aulea had, and like Mors’s had before that. Their own wedding day was going to make Cor feel so out of place and uncomfortable and Ardyn simply was not having that.

Maybe there was another way around this…

* * *

“Have you two come up with any ideas yet.” Regis smiled as he approached Cor who was training, after hours in the guard’s halls.

Cor and, surprisingly, Ardyn had been rather quiet on the whole wedding craze as of late. Regis wasn’t really surprised at Cor’s unwillingness to share because he never liked to turn events into big deals. But when it came to his uncle, he would over dramatize everything. Yet, Ardyn was not telling Regis what he wanted to have at his wedding, he was not demanding he be allowed this or that. It was odd. Regis thought it would be better to bother Cor with this instead of Ardyn and he was right too.

“We’re getting there.” Cor replied while punching the punching bag.

“Mine and Aulea’s wedding was planned, 2 years in advance.”

“Yes, but you are the King. I am not.”

“You are marrying into the royal family Cor. Whether you like it or not it has to be big.” Regis raised his eyebrow when Cor didn’t give him a response for a moment. It looked as if the young Marshal needed his advice.

“I am not really comfortable with that.” Cor admitted, punching the bag a little harder than before.

Regis told Cor he was to stop punching the poor bag to death and made him sit by him on the benches. Regis handed Cor his water bottle that the Marshal had left on the side and waited for a few moments to ensure that Cor was ready to talk to him about this. Sometimes, Cor was hard to read, and this was one of those times. Regis didn’t know whether to make this conversation serious or light-hearted. The King didn’t really want Cor snapping at him and in order to see what way he should approach this, Regis listened out for Cor’s tone of voice when he responded to the next thing he said.

“That might be a problem.”

“I know and Ardyn is really excited.”

Okay, Cor’s voice sounded guilty and agitated. Right. This was a serious talk.

Regis placed his hands in his lap and got to the point. “Why did you ask Ardyn to marry you?”

“Because I love him.”

“Clearly. But I know you, Cor. You hate expressing your emotions and yet you went to all that trouble making it romantic as you possibly could for him. Why?”

“Because I wanted to make Ardyn happy.” Cor responded in a tone of annoyance. Why was Regis asking all these questions?

“Good, I am glad. I understand that you love Ardyn very much, but we both know, and you can’t deny this, that your wedding probably means a lot more to him than it does to you. I am not saying you don’t care about it I am only saying, this is one day of your life. Can’t you suffer through a big fanfare of a day, if you know it will mean the world to him?”

Regis’s words made Cor take a step back. Nothing his friend said was a lie. This wedding did mean so much to Ardyn, more than Cor, or anyone could possibly imagine. Now, Cor felt like a dick. Of course, he could put all his emotions aside to make their wedding day the best day Ardyn had ever had. Cor felt honoured that Ardyn would even bother giving him a fraction of his long life, the least Cor could do in return was give Ardyn what he wanted.

A bloody big wedding.

“Thanks, Regis, I needed to hear that.”

“You’re welcome….. Uncle Cor.”

“Never. Call. Me. That. Again.” 

* * *

“Ardyn, we need to talk.” Cor said rushing into their house. When he walked in he found Ardyn sitting at the bottom of the stairs with an envelope in his hands.

“Yes, we do.” Ardyn agreed and when Cor stood in front of him he handed him the envelope and told him to open it.

Cor tore the thing apart and his eyes widened in shock. What was Ardyn doing? He looked down at him and cocked his head in confusion.

“Boat tickets to Altissa.”

“Yes. We are getting married this weekend.”

This whole thing had gone from one extreme to the other and Cor didn’t really know how to react to this. Ardyn was being stupid. He didn’t want this, but in the shock of getting that news, just after accepting what Cor had to do to make Ardyn happy, only a question of shock came out of his mouth.

“You want to elope?”

“Yes.”

“No, you don’t.”

“It will make you happy.” Ardyn said in a low tone, but he smiled as he said it.

Cor shook his head and knelt down, so he was now eye level with Ardyn and allowed Ardyn to explain what he meant.

“As you said you don’t like affection. This is a big thing for you, and I know you don’t want it publicly televised which it will be. There is no escaping how big the day will be. So, it will make you comfortable if we do it this weekend.”

Cor felt like laughing. They both cared about each other that much to drop what they both wanted just to make the other happy. Right, he was never going to let Ardyn go now. But there was no way that Cor was going to allow Ardyn to sacrifice the one day he had always dreamed of for him. Cor kissed Ardyn softly and rested his forehead against his.

“No, it won’t. Because you won’t be happy.”

“I am happy as long as you are.”

“Eloping isn’t going to bring me any joy.” Cor laughed that time. Ardyn was a terrible liar sometimes. “Affection isn’t my strong point, but… I decided to ask you to marry me. Which means I am willing to take on whatever your family brings. Including giving you the day you always dreamed of.”

“But won’t you be uncomfortable. I am not willing to put you through that discomfort.” Ardyn sighed and ran his fingers along Cor’s hair. Yes, he did want this wedding to be big, but it wouldn’t be fair on Cor.

But Cor was not going to let Ardyn win on this one. Cor took hold of both of Ardyn’s shoulders and gave him the biggest smile.

“Tough luck cause I am. This was taken away from you before and this time it’s not. We are getting married on June 30th in the Citadel, and it is going to be the biggest fanfare Lucis has ever seen. You are getting what you want Ass Hat I promise you that.”

* * *

“Clarus is being my best man.” Cor said finally making a solid decision on something.

“Did Regis cry when you told him that?” Ardyn smirked, skimming through a wine book so they could decide on which ones to have at the reception.

“Nearly. Now, who are you having?”

“No one.” Ardyn glanced up and noticed Cor was confused by his reply. And Ardyn knew exactly what Cor was thinking and that wasn’t happening. “And before you suggest my tyrant of a brother does it. The answer is no.”

“He’d love to do it.”

“Makes it all the while me not having one then.” 

* * *

“Have you thought about your surname?” Regis asked, curiously. This was going to be interesting to hear what the pair had to say on the matter.

“Sorry?” Ardyn questioned, not really paying attention to what his nephew had just said.

When Clarus looked at Cor, he looked just as confused. The Shield laughed and he threw a plastic cup at Cor to make sure he was listening to him. “You two are hopeless.”

“What surname are you going to take Cor, are you going to remain Leonis, or are you taking Ardyn’s?” Regis asked again. Time was ticking and Ardyn and Cor still hadn’t decided on a very crucial part of their marriage.

“We haven’t discussed that yet.” Cor admitted looking to Ardyn for help.

But Ardyn didn’t look bothered. He put his hat over his face, leant back in his chair and carelessly said. “And we don’t need to.”

“That is kind of important Ardyn.”

“I know. I am not keeping mine. I am having his.”

“That’s… okay then.” Regis found that odd. No offence to Cor or anything but anyone who married into this family took the royal family name as it was considered to be more important. Not the other way around. Somnus was going to love hearing this…

“Why? Why don’t you want me to have yours?” Cor asked, hitting Ardyn’s hat off of his head. He was on the same page as Regis and Clarus here. He wasn’t really one for tradition but even he knew that this act could be considered mildly insulting.

“Because Cor Lucis Caelum doesn’t sound right. Plus, it means I no longer have to share my surname with Somnus.” Ardyn grumbled and left his hat on the ground. He was not picking that up, Cor could.

“That really shouldn’t be your incentive.”

“I am happy being Ardyn Leonis. I think it has a nice ring to it.”

“For formal events, you will have to be addressed as ‘Lucis Caelum.’” Regis commented before going back to preparing for his meeting with the council.

“I can live with that.”

* * *

“Somnus could always…”

“No.”

* * *

“Band.”

“Band.”

* * *

“… and I cannot wait to dance with you as my husband.” Ardyn clapped his hands together as he started to go through numerous of CD’s, records and albums he had collected over the years. 

“Keep dreaming because I am not doing that.”

Cor drew the line at dancing. He was not doing that. He just about managed to worm his way out of his one dance at the gala that had officially made him Marshal of the Crownsguard. If he could get out of that, he was getting out of this. 

“But it’s tradition.”

“Then get a best man.”

_Touché, Leonis._ Ardyn thought to himself as he carried on looking for a piece of music they could dance to anyway.

* * *

Cor and Ardyn didn’t really have very many arguments. But the wedding stress had gotten to both of them and Cor was not allowing Ardyn to wear what he usually did to their wedding. The daemon was the one that wanted everything, big and perfect. So, therefore, he was not wearing the trench coat. He was not wearing the scarfs. And he was not wearing that hat.

Well, Cor liked the hat.

Maybe the hat but that was it.

“You are not wearing what, what you are wearing now to our wedding and that is final Caelum!”

“This is stylish.” Ardyn huffed in an offended tone.

“Yeah, about 800 years ago.”

Ardyn narrowed his eyes at Cor and leant over the table in a threatening manner. “If I am wearing a suit so are you.”

“I bet I could pull it off better then you could anyway.” Cor said in the same tone, whilst leaning over the table so that their faces were inches apart from each other.

That made Ardyn smirk. “Oh, I know you could. And I can’t wait to see you in one.”

“Fuck off you horny bastard.”

* * *

The question of their honeymoon was the next topic. And when Cor suggested Altissa, Ardyn said no as he had already had something else in mind. Cor was a little pissed off that he had no say in this and one night after he came out of the shower, he demanded that Ardyn tell him what he was planning.

“Just tell me already.”

“You don’t want to ruin the surprise, My Marshal.” Ardyn smirked as he looked at his fiancée’s naked form in delight.

“Yes, I do.”

“I’ll give you a hint. To the furthest corners of Eos.” 

“That’s ominous.” Cor rolled his eyes in frustration.

“Don’t tell me you don’t love it. Now, come here my darling. I would like to give you my full attention for the rest of the evening.”

* * *

Cor tapped his foot against the floor and prepared himself to bring up the unwanted conversation again. Cor had been trying for months to convince Ardyn to look past his endless squabbling with Somnus and just ask him to be his best man. It may actually mend some bridges between the pair.

Once, Ardyn had stopped looking through the phone book for florists that they could order the flowers from, he carefully brought it up. “You know we are still missing the best man for you.”

“I am aware.”

“Somnus will…”

“Not be doing it.” Ardyn glared up from the book to warn Cor to leave it at that.

The Marshal took the hint. He would try again another day.

* * *

“Ass Hat.”

“Yes.”

“Aulea’s pregnant.”

Cor was of course incredibly happy for both Regis and Aulea when they told him. However, the King and Queen asked him to break the news to Ardyn. Because this meant that they could no longer go on the three-month honeymoon that Ardyn had been hinting at for ages. They both needed to be here and be ready at a moment’s notice in case anyone tried to attack the Queen in her delicate condition or if she popped earlier then expected. 

Ardyn nodded. “Looks like our honeymoon won’t be three months long.”

“No, the baby is due in August.”

“So… a week then. I can work around that.” Ardyn smiled and went to leave the room so he could congratulate his nephew. It would be nice to have a baby around the Citadel again. Plus, it meant Gladio could have someone his own age to talk too.

Before Ardyn left, Cor blurted out his desire to know what they were doing. “Where are we going? Can you just tell me?”

“Wait and see.”

* * *

“Wesk said he will take photos for us. Not the professional one’s, Regis has already sorted that out. Just the funny quirky ones we can keep for ourselves.”

“That’s another thing out of the way then.” Cor said, checking it off the list. 

* * *

Regis was also getting pissed off at his ancestor’s lack of communication as of late. And with Aulea being pregnant he desperately needed them to get on… not even that. He needed them to just talk. Was that really so much to ask for? No, it wasn’t. But his Grandfather and Uncle were as stubborn as each other and it was now turning into a complete nightmare.

The King was getting to the bottom of this.

“Have you spoken to Ardyn?”

“No.” Somnus replied, yawning. He had had this conversation with Clarus about 50 times now. He was done with it.

“Grandfather. I understand that this is…”

“No, you don’t! Do not pretend that you do!”

Somnus couldn’t help but growl at Regis. No one but he and Ardyn understood why they were behaving like this. No one but them fully understood why they had indirectly agreed to keep their interaction to a minimum. If the Founder King was completely honest, he didn’t want to do this. But he wanted Ardyn to be happy, relaxed and not fearing that Somnus was somehow going to fuck everything up. That’s why he was keeping away. That was how it was going to stay for a while, until after Ardyn and Cor got married anyway.

Regis let go a sympathetic sigh. “He’s just… Ardyn is a complicated person and doesn’t know how to express his emotions properly.”

“I know how he is feeling. I don’t blame him either.” Somnus said in a low voice.

“Come on, you two need to talk. Cor is trying…”

“Is wasting his breath. It will make things easier if I don’t go at all.”

Regis was stunned by that. Somnus didn’t really mean that? Surely, he didn’t.

“It’s your brother’s wedding day, you have to go.”

“Trust me, Regis, me, not being present is the greatest gift I can offer him.”

Regis wasn’t about to give in. He was going to pester his Grandfather right up until the day to get him to change his mind. Despite whatever Ardyn said, he would be devastated if Somnus didn’t turn up. And Somnus would be equally as sad if he didn’t get to see how happy his brother was.

Why couldn’t they just get along?

* * *

“No question I am arriving in a horse and carriage.”

* * *

Ardyn had the list in front of him. Their wedding was only 4 months away and he wanted to make sure that everything was under control. He read from the list out loud and with every item that he knew for certain was taken care of he nodded his head.

“…Guests. Music. Suits. Entertainment. Speech. First dance song, pending.” Ardyn shouted the last one so Cor would hear him from downstairs.

“Not dancing!” Cor called back.

“Yes, you are! Transport. Tables. Flowers. Food….” Ardyn then began to panic. He ran downstairs and into the kitchen were Cor was making their dinner. “Cor we haven’t done cake testing yet!”

Cor immediately stopped what he was doing and grabbed onto Ardyn’s arms to calm him down. Ardyn had been stressing about the tiniest of things recently. It was the wedding stress, along with the stress of preparing for a new nephew. None of this was good for the royal and Cor was starting to become wary as the daemons loved it when Ardyn got like this. He was not letting them be pricks to him at the moment. 

“Don’t panic, we are doing that tomorrow remember?” Cor said calmly.

“Tomorrow!? We should have done that months ago! We are getting married in less than 4 months!”

Cor decided that Ardyn was not going to calm down by words. He had to turn off the oven, pull him into the living room and give him a hug on the sofa for a bit. They needed to relax tonight. More importantly, Ardyn did.

And once Ardyn was calm enough and wanted to put on a documentary to calm down further, Cor thought he could try and bring up the issue of Somnus again. 

“Ardyn, you still haven’t asked Somnus to be your best man yet, have you?”

Ardyn sat up and said very plainly. “If you want this wedding to continue. Do not bring that up again.”

He got off the sofa and went to bed, leaving Cor shocked by the statement. Things were a little worse than he first thought.

* * *

“Ardyn’s freaking out.” Cor said sitting next to Clarus.

Cor was still a little shaken up by what Ardyn said last night. What he said was clearly a threat and Cor didn’t know how to tackle this. If he brought it up, Ardyn may just call the whole thing off like he said, but Cor was getting worried now. Ardyn must be pretty upset to even think about saying something as horrible as that to him. He stupidly went to Clarus and Cid for advice. Not like they were going to be any help. One did whatever he could to make Cor look like a fool, and the other hated Ardyn’s guts.

“And you’re not.” Clarus asked.

“No.”

“Give it time Kid you will.” Cid smirked, remembering how he, Regis and Clarus all acted before their own wedding days. Cor was going to be exactly the same.

“Anyway, I am in the middle of planning your stag night.” Clarus announce with a hint of mischief in his voice.

“Great.” Cor grumbled. He decided not to tell them exactly what happened, because Cid was going to hit the roof and Clarus probably wouldn’t be any better. He tackled the subject in another way, one that would not get Ardyn into trouble. “Ardyn won’t be having one because he is refusing to get himself a best man.”

“Regis did mention something about that.”

* * *

Now it was time to pick the rings. When they went to the jewellers Cor realised something and it saddened him. He wasn’t going to be able to ever wear his wedding ring. He had to train the guard, and when he wasn’t doing that he was off on some ridiculous mission somewhere around Eos, and if he wasn’t doing that he was asleep. He didn’t bottle that up though, he told Ardyn straight away and Ardyn felt a little heartbroken as well. They hadn’t thought of that until now…

Then an idea sparked in the royal’s brain.

“Darling, you could always wear it on a chain or just keep it on your person at all time.”

“Not a bad idea Ass Hat.” Cor smiled, liking the idea. But it was not going to be the same as actually wearing one. “As I won’t be putting mine on show, you decide what colour you want it to be.”

“I want you to do that.”

Cor didn’t fight Ardyn on that, and it didn’t even take him a second to choose either.

“Gold.”

_To match your eyes. _Cor was never going to say something as loving as that in public. No, he was going to keep that gesture to himself. It would eventually click with Ardyn one day why he picked the colour.

* * *

“First dance. What song do you want my darling?” Ardyn asked again.

Again he got the same reply.

“Ardyn we are not dancing.”

“We’ll see about that.”

* * *

“They are just as bad as each other.” Clarus stated after the meeting had ended and there was only himself, Regis and Cor left. During that meeting, Somnus and Ardyn had not looked at each other once. It was driving all three of them crazy.

“They haven’t really spoken that much to each other since the beginning of the year.” Regis commented. It was April. Bloody April, this was the longest Regis had seen them not talk to one another.

“They need to. Because I would like it if Ardyn asks him to be his best man.” Cor said.

“I don’t think that is going to happen.”

* * *

“I have come up with a solution.” Cor stood in front of the TV, blocking Ardyn’s view so he had to talk to him about this.

“To what?” Ardyn asked. He was a little tired this evening. Cor would probably have to tell him again in the morning.

“Your best man. Before, you say we aren’t getting married anymore, I would like to compromise with you. I will dance with you at our wedding if you ask Somnus to be your best man.”

Ardyn was awake now. He tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair and shook his head. He had, had enough of this conversation with Cor. Why wouldn’t he just let it drop?

“Why do you want him to be my best man so much?”

“Because he is your brother and you love him.”

Something in Ardyn snapped then. What Cor was saying was true, but at the same time he was done with it. And he said something he really didn’t mean.

“I would rather watch Regis died than have him be my best man.”

“You don’t mean that.” Cor said sternly.

“Yes, I do. You win. We don’t have to dance. There. Now we are both happy.”


	4. The Greatest Gift I Can Offer...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another long chapter...
> 
> I think the next one will probably be the biggest and the maybe the final. I haven't really decided yet. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy :)

“You upset me last night.”

Ardyn turned to Cor and let out a deep sigh. He really didn’t mean what he said at all, it was a response done in the heat of the moment and he now deeply regretted it. Because he had upset Cor, a week before their wedding. Why was he such an arse sometimes? Why couldn’t he keep his mouth shut? If there was one thing Ardyn was certain about in this world, it was that he did not want to ever cause his Marshal any heartache. And he had.

“I am sorry, My Marshal.” Ardyn said, sitting down beside Cor. He placed a hand on the top half of the younger man’s back and slowly began to rub it.

“I should think so too.” Cor shrugged his shoulders in retaliation to the action, but he never told Ardyn to stop comforting him, so the royal carried on. “It’s one thing not wanting your brother at our wedding, it’s another thing saying you wouldn’t care if Regis died just to ensure that happens.”

“I didn’t mean that. And of course, I want Somnus there. I just don’t want a best man.”

“You don’t seem like you care if he shows up or not.” 

“Well I do care. I am just acting rather childish, aren’t I?” Ardyn reluctantly admitted.

He was always childish when it came to his brother. But it was upsetting Cor and because of that, he had to try and stop himself acting that way. Anyone would have thought he would have grown out of it by now, but it never happened.

Cor shook his head in disappointment. “Not only are you acting childish, but you are also being stupid. You tell Regis all the time, that no matter what, the three of you have to appear like you are getting along so that Niflheim doesn’t see it as a weakness and tries to attack Lucis.”

“Cor, this isn’t abo…”

“It doesn’t matter what this is about.” Cor raised his voice to cut him off. Cor really couldn’t care less if this was because of their feud, or if it was both of them acting petty for the enjoyment of it, they had to pack it in. Not just for each other, but for everyone. Maybe, Ardyn’s and Cor’s wedding could make the brothers see that. “If you walk down that aisle without your brother by your side, it’s going to show the world that there is hostility between the two of you. And what are the Niffs going to do the moment we go on our honeymoon? BANG! Goodbye Lucis. Aulea’s pregnant with the future of this nation and because you can’t look past your petty squabbling you are putting her, the baby, Regis and everyone else in Insomnia in danger.”

Ardyn stopped rubbing Cor’s back and gave him an emotionless expression. “That’s not fair.”

“It’s the truth though.”

“What do you want me to do?” Ardyn let out another sigh, allowing Cor’s words to settle and click in his head.

Cor took hold of Ardyn’s hands with his own and spoke quieter than before. “I want you to be nice to your brother. You don’t necessarily need to have him as your best man, I just want you two to find a level of understanding before we go into this marriage. You haven’t spoken to him in months.”

“He’s been avoiding me, as much as I have been avoiding him.”

“Then be a fucking mature big brother and be the one that makes the first move.”

Ardyn let out a small laugh and kissed Cor’s hands. He loved everything about Cor. How bold he was, how unfazed he was when he turned, and just how… mature he had become over the past 9 years he had known him. “Why do you make sense? Why?”

“Let’s face it I may be the most reckless person on this planet, but I have a good head on my shoulders.” Cor smirked back, squeezing Ardyn’s hands in return for the kiss.

“That you do indeed. If it makes you happy then I will talk to him.” Ardyn caved in, before giving Cor a sweet and loving kiss. He would do anything for him.

But Cor quickly took his hands out of his fiancée’s and pulled away from the kiss. The Marshal stood up and went to leave the room. Huh? What just happened? That was what Cor wanted? Why was he walking away? Ardyn quickly rose from the sofa and followed him: 

“Cor, where are you going?”

Cor turned around and he looked fed up. “You haven’t listened to a word I just said. I want you to do it, to make yourself happy. Me being happy about it is just an added bonus.”

Ardyn went to argue back but realised that this was pointless and he started to laugh at how pointless the situation had become. They were a week away from getting married they did not need the stress of arguing with anyone, least of all each other.

“This isn’t funny Ass Hat.”

“Yes, it is. We are arguing about Somnus. I mean come on, there are more serious issues to worry about and we are squabbling over him? We really shouldn’t be.”

“No, we shouldn’t.” Cor agreed and rolled his eyes.

“Come here.” Ardyn gave him a soft smile and reached out to give him a hug. Cor accepted the hug and melted into Ardyn’s arms. Ardyn nuzzled his face into his hair and held him close as he finally explained the reasoning behind not wanting a best man. And it wasn’t for the reason that Cor would have expected. “I am sorry that I am being a pain. I promise I will talk to Somnus later. And to be honest I don’t want a best man because… you are my best man. You are the only person that matters to me. I love Regis and Somnus, but you have become my everything. In my eyes, no one can be better than you. That’s the reason. Not because I don’t trust him.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me that before?” Cor laughed. Why was Ardyn a tough cookie to crack sometimes? It was meant to be Cor who didn’t like expressing how he felt. Not the other way around.

“I don’t know. Maybe I didn’t want to tell you that, because it’s a little sappy.” 

“Just a bit.” Cor smirked and rose his head to look into Ardyn’s honey eyes. “But I wouldn’t have you any other way though.”

* * *

It was June 29th.

It was only less than a day away before the big day and Ardyn was only freaking out slightly.

First thing in the morning he went over to the Citadel and checked that everything was in order. He bothered the kitchens for a good hour to makes sure they were all well prepared. He checked the grand hall where they were having their reception, making sure that all the tables were laid up correctly. That all the names tags were placed on the right tables and that all the flowers were still full in bloom. The last place he checked was the throne room where they were set to take their vows. Chairs were placed in neat rows covering the grand majority of the room, and at the bottom of the steps leading to the throne was an altar.

Ardyn smiled when he saw it.

This was really happening now. This was something he never thought he would be gifted. Never be able to have a chance at. It felt very strange and daunting. The ancient being traced his fingers along the alter and then looked up to the throne. Just like the alter it was bare. Tomorrow it was going to be untouched. Instead of feeling a mixture of pain, regret and sorrow, that he usually felt whenever he looked at the throne that was taken from him, he felt… grateful. Grateful because if it had been his he wouldn’t have met Cor. He wouldn’t be doing this. He wouldn’t be as happy as he was now. Maybe he should thank Somnus…

No, that wasn’t happening.

“Last minute checks I see.”

Regis’s voice pulled him back to reality. Ardyn swiftly turned around and gave him a smile of pure joy.

“Dear nephew, you should know what I am like by now.”

“Ever the perfectionist.” Regis agreed. The King then cleared his throat and got to the point as to why he had come to find his uncle. “Uncle, Cid wants a word with you.”

“Is he going to threaten me again?” Ardyn could have done without the stress of dealing with Mr Sophiar today. But if the man got this part over and done with quickly, it meant Ardyn still had time to make sure all the cameras were set up, before leaving to spend the rest of the afternoon with Cor.

“More than likely.” Regis confessed, he didn’t really want that to happen. But it was better that Cid did it now than tomorrow.

“Well, tell him to come in here and do it. I am very busy at the moment.”

“He doesn’t need to Daemon.” Cid spat words of fire at the royal as he walked into the room.

Ardyn fought the urge to flinch. There would be smoke coming out of his ears if Cid was a cartoon character. As of late, Cid had started to grow nastier towards him. Ardyn didn’t really know what he had done and when he asked Regis and Cor, they told him it was just Cid. That was all well and good, but Ardyn had been around long enough to know when someone loathed him. And Cid definitely hated his guts.

“Hello, Mr. Sophiar.” Ardyn smiled sheepishly, ensuring that he was standing closer to Regis then he had been before.

“We need to get one thing straight. You hurt Cor at all, and I am gunna make your life hell.” Cid threatened and for once Ardyn didn’t react badly to a threat.

He merely agreed and raised his hands in the air as he politely responded to the man’s words. “Mr. Sophiar, if I ever hurt Cor, I will make my own existence hell.”

“Glad we’re on the same page. But I will turn you into car fuel if you hurt him.”

“How are you meant to do that?” Regis asked scratching his head in confusion.

“Keep out of this Reggie.” Cid growled, forcing the King to take a step backwards.

“Deal. You have my word, I will let you put me through whatever torture you want if I hurt him in any way. I promise.”

Ardyn held out his hand for Cid to shake, but the smaller man refused it. Instead, he gave him an impolite grunt and walked back out where he had come from. Ardyn and Regis gave each other a nervous look when they were certain Cid was out of hearing range. Gods that mechanic was more protective and stubborn than Ardyn was sometimes, and that was saying a lot.

“At least he won’t threaten you tomorrow.” Regis shrugged his shoulders.

“I think I am going to get more verbal warnings from both Wesk and Clarus by the end of the day.”

“They trust you.”

“Clarus may be, Wesk definitely not.” Ardyn didn’t blame them for the lack of trust. It was hard to trust himself sometimes. But Cor made him better. Cor healed what remained of his humanity and he would never take him for granted. One day, he would make Cid realise that. It may take a while but Ardyn had a lot of patience when it was required of him too. Before, Ardyn got in too deep into conversation about emotions with Regis he changed the subject to one he knew would distract the King. “How’s Aulea and the little sprout anyway?”

“Please, don’t call my unborn son that.” Regis pleaded. He had no idea why Ardyn had started to call him that.

“If you tell me his name I won’t have to come up with one.”

“For the last time we are not naming the future Prince of Lucis: Sprout!”

The King thought it best to leave Ardyn to whatever he was doing. He went to leave but as he got to the door, pink magic appeared in front of him and he was forced to stop in his tracks. What did Ardyn want now?

“Regis before you go, I would like to make a small change to the wedding plans…”

* * *

“Everything sorted?” Cor asked.

“Indeed, it is my darling. Tomorrow, I am going to become Mr Leonis.” Ardyn smiled, picking Cor up and twirling him around.

Cor jumped at the unexpected action and had no choice but to wrap his legs around Ardyn so they both didn’t fall over. By the look in Ardyn’s eyes, he had no intention of letting him go yet. Cor wanted to scold him for scaring him but decided against it. Instead, he wrapped his arms around his neck and accepted the affection.

Cor rolled his eyes and just pretended that his feet were safely placed on the floor. “We never decided on the sleeping arrangements for tonight.”

“Not to worry My Marshal I have it all figured out.” _Of course, he did_. “I am going to take you to the Citadel where you are staying in my quarters for the night. From there, I am going to spend an hour with you and Regis, Clarus, Wesk and… Cid. Then I am coming back home. Tonight, you are going to do nothing but enjoy yourself, okay?”

“Don’t you want a Stag do?”

“No. Because a Stag do is supposed to be your last night of freedom. And Cor, I can’t wait to be tied with you for the rest of your life.”

“You’re being sappy again.” Cor laughed placing his forehead against the immortal royal’s.

“For once accept it.” Ardyn whispered, greedily placing his lips on Cor’s.

Because Ardyn wanted everything done traditionally they had to spend the night away from each other. Originally, he thought Cor was going to tell him to stop being a traditionalist prat, but he didn’t. It was one of the first things they agreed on. The only problem was that Ardyn now didn’t want to put Cor down. He wanted to stay like this until they got married. Realistically that wasn’t going to happen and eventually they would have to let go of each other.

Cor pulled away from the passionate kiss and laughed at Ardyn’s constant clinginess. “I can’t wait for tomorrow either. Come on Ass Hat, let’s go.”

* * *

Surprisingly, during the hour that Ardyn spent with Cor, Regis, Clarus, Wesk and Cid he didn’t feel awkward or out of place. Given Cid hardly spoke to him, so that helped. They just had a good time and laughed about their trip to Accordo and Ardyn thought it was a good idea to tell the group stories about a little tiny Regis Lucis Caelum. Of course, all of them were as embarrassing as he could make them and the entire time the King gave him the evils. Oh, he did love winding Regis up. Almost as much as he loved winding up Somnus.

Speaking of which…

“Where is Somnus anyway?”

“He’s…” Wesk trailed off not wanting to finish his sentence.

Clarus stepped in and brushed the Founder King’s absence to one side. “Don’t bother yourself with him at the moment Ardyn.”

“Where is my brother?” Ardyn narrowed his eyes, knowing that the four of them knew something that neither he or Cor did. What was going on?

“Ardyn, he told me yesterday he isn’t coming to the wedding.” Regis broke the news to him in a low and sadden voice. The King had been trying for months to convince Somnus to go but his Grandfather kept refusing. Yesterday, Regis tried one more time and he was met with the same response as before.

“For fuck sake.” Cor said in a surprised tone.

“Look I tried to talk to him, but he said he isn’t coming. I am sorry I couldn’t change his mind.”

“That’s a shame.” Ardyn grumbled, not really giving off much emotion to the news. If he was truly honest, he did expect this to happen.

“I want him there.” Cor nudged Ardyn to see if he would express any emotion towards his words.

Ardyn didn’t. He barely shook his head, stood up and kissed Cor on top of the head before making his way out of the room. “I’ll see what I can do. Enjoy the rest of your night, My Marshal.”

“Ardyn, please don’t start anything.” Regis pleaded.

“I promise you, I won’t!”

* * *

Somnus had many nasty habits. Napping was the worst one. Hunting was another, but he didn’t do that anymore. His third one was sitting on the roof of the Citadel. He had only fallen asleep up there around 15 times and only 7 of them had resulted in an accidental death. But the roof was like a hideaway for the Founder King. No one came up here and it would only be Ardyn or Regis that would disturb him.

Surprise, surprise, this evening it was his older brother. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be partying?”

“No, I think I am a little too old for that.” Ardyn said sitting down next to him on the ledge.

“Maybe.”

They turned to silence for a moment. The pair hadn’t really spoken in a while and it was always mildly awkward when they decided it was time to talk again. Especially, given the reason why the pair had distanced themselves from each other. Ardyn decided to let that go and get to the point after a few minutes of listening to the wind and the traffic down below.

“Regis told me you’re not coming.”

“I think that is for the best, don’t you?”

“No.” Ardyn shook his head and turned to his brother. “I want you there.”

“No, you don’t. You are only saying that to make Cor happy.” Somnus wasn’t stupid. Ardyn would never do this on his own volition. He must have been prompted to.

Ardyn responded in a sombre tone. “Do you really think so little of me? Of course, I want my brother to attend my wedding.”

“It will put your mind at rest and it will ensure my neck doesn’t get broken in two.” Somnus blinked at the thought. He didn’t want that to happen again.

“You have to come.” Ardyn demanded that time.

“Stop making this situation more difficult.” Somnus ordered back, diverting his gaze back to the city. He was doing Ardyn a fucking favour. Couldn’t he just get lost and leave him to it. 

“No. You have to come. Because I want you to be my best man.”

That caught Somnus off guard. He slowly turned back to Ardyn and saw that he was being deadly serious. He did not expect that at all. From what he gathered, and was told by Regis, was that Ardyn just didn’t want one. So why was he asking this of him? More importantly, why was he only just asking him now. His wedding was less than 15 hours away.

“… a little late to be finding a best man.” Somnus responded carefully, trying to judge what game his brother might be playing.

“Well, I didn’t want one until Regis said you weren’t coming. I have been your best man at all your weddings, minus the first, and it’s not fair if you’re not the best man at mine.”

“What happens if I say no?”

“Then you will make both Cor and I very sad and the day won’t be the same without you.”

Somnus lent over to Ardyn and sniffed him. “How much wine have you drunk?”

Ardyn shoved Somnus in the shoulder and laughed. “I am being serious Somnus. Please, will you be my best man?”

Ardyn realised what a fool he had been not to ask this of Somnus beforehand. It actually hurt him to know that his brother didn’t want to come. No matter how much they said they hated each other, or no matter how many unresolved issues had grown between them, they still loved each other. All Ardyn wanted tomorrow was to make Cor smile and be surrounded by the people he loved, which included Somnus. For that reason, he was willing to give into Cor’s wishes by making his brother his best man. And he was not going to let Somnus refuse.

“If it makes you happy then yes.” Somnus finally accepted.

Ardyn smiled and gave his brother a hug. “I hate you, little brother.”

“I hate you too.”

* * *

“Now it is only you Wesk that needs to get married.” Cor said, downing whatever Cid had just given him. It tasted vile, but the four of them had said they were going to get him plastered tonight. The joke was on them, he had a much higher alcohol intolerance then all of them combined. It was going to be funny, watching them all slowly step into the realm of the drunk.

He was definitely recording whatever happened once they got to that stage.

“Yes, Wesk. If Cor can do it, so can you.” Regis smiled copying Cor, but he had to spit it out. It was way too bitter for his liking.

“I’d rather not.” Wesk pouted, putting his glass down, not wanting to end up like the King. 

Clarus didn’t care. Today was the first night he hadn’t been working tirelessly all day only to go back home to look after his adorable son, who only seemed to want to go to bed at 2 am. He was drinking whatever Cid gave him. He down the drink and turned to Cor, hitting him rather hard on the back. “Anyway, do you feel like freaking out yet?”

“No.”

“Weird.” Regis stated, getting something a little lighter to drink.

“It’s okay to freak out, you know.” Clarus reassured him.

“Clare, leave the Kid alone.” Cid grumbled. He had expected Cor to have a wobble long before now. So he decided to wait and watch it unfold rather than prompt it too.

“I am his best man, I am just trying to tell him it is normal.”

“Thanks, Clare but I am fine.”

“Give it time, you won’t be.” Regis laughed.

It was going to be funny to watch their little brother lose his cool.

* * *

The rest of Ardyn’s night was quite similar to Cor’s. But instead of watching his friends drink themselves under the table, he had a few relaxing drinks with Somnus back at his house. The pair didn’t talk about how Ardyn was feeling because they both knew he was going to get a little panicky, so they decided to talk about Somnus’s failed attempts at marriage instead.

“Your 11th wedding has got to be the best.”

“No, it wasn’t.” Somnus replied, sipping the wine Ardyn had just poured into his glass.

“Oh, it really was.”

“It nearly got cancelled.”

“Let’s face it Som, it was a shame it didn’t get cancelled. You married someone who tried to end the family line, just so she could have a child with you and put her own spawn on the throne.” Ardyn sometimes pitied Somnus. The Founder King fell in love too quickly and half the time paid for his lack of judgement.

“Yeah it was a bit of a mess.” Somnus admitted. Let’s face it though Cor wasn’t really any better. He lied to get into the Crownsguard, fought Gilgamesh and lived, outlived a King, had been a part of and survived major battles, some of them which, the odds were not in the man’s favour and he still managed to come back. Was called relentless in these battles and he had made an army turn and run on its heels as soon as he arrived on the field. His brother was marrying a very dangerous man. They were perfect for each other. “Anyway, you are marrying someone who is just as dangerous.”

“That’s why I love him.”

* * *

“Right Cor, bedtime.” Wesk ordered, looking at the clock. It was 2:30 in the morning.

“Wesky let the Kid decide when it’s time to retire.” Cid laughed waving his hand at the man. He was completely off his face.

“You are really no fun in your old age.” Clarus joined in with the teasing slurring his words.

“Clarus I am younger than you and you two are drunk.”

“I agree with Wesk and Clarus you need to stop… actually Clarus you carry on.” Regis said handing his Shield another drink. The King, like Wesk, was completely sober. They both agreed to stop drinking a while ago to ensure that Cor had a sleep and got up in time.

But Cor saw through the reasoning why he wanted Clarus to drink. He took the drink off his best man and purposely threw it on the carpet to annoy Regis. “Regis, you won’t be his replacement if he becomes paralytic.”

“Not fair.”

Why were all the Caelum’s jealous, sleepy, nosey and pricks? Cor could not believe he had asked to become a member of this family. It was beyond his understanding.

Cor took Wesk’s advice on board and said goodnight before leaving. He got washed, dressed and sunk into Ardyn’s mattress in his fiancée’s quarters. It was weird not sleeping next to Ardyn. It was strange not hearing him snore or feeling his icy skin against his. And considering it was the beginning of summer and it was starting to get hot, he really wanted Ardyn by his side tonight. Keeping him cool, which would allow him to have an easier sleep. It was only one night, right? He had the rest of his life to snuggle up, next to that daemon infested royal. The thought made him smile and he soon drifted off to sleep.

* * *

“Ardyn get up.” Somnus said smacking Ardyn across the face. “Ardyn get your arse out of bed.”

“What?” Ardyn groaned hitting Somnus’s hands away and rolling over so he could no longer smack him.

“Wakey, wakey time. We need to get you ready.”

Somnus’s voice was starting to irritate him now. Why couldn’t he let him have a lay-in? Somnus was such a mean little toad sometimes. Given, Ardyn had woke him up many times in the past without just cause, but smacking him in the face was not a method he would have ever chosen.

Wait a second. Somnus was the one to wake him up?! Was he ill?!

“How on Eos are you up before me?” Ardyn asked in a worried tone, sitting up to face his brother, who was wearing a suit. Huh? Why was he wearing that?

“Because it is my job to ensure you get there on time.”

“There? I have no idea what you are on about.”

“You are getting married today you idiot! Get out of bed now!” Somnus shouted it that time and pushed Ardyn out of bed.

“I AM GETTING MARRIED TODAY!!!” 

* * *

Clarus only lost Cor for 10 minutes. He was quite proud of himself. When Regis got married to Aulea, Clarus lost the King for a good hour before he found him in the garden’s pacing up and down, worrying about the day.

But Cor was easy to find. He went straight down to the guard’s training hall and of course, the Marshal was practicing weapon training. “Cor I am just coming to tell you that there have been some last-minute adjustme…. Are you okay?”

“I think I am starting to freak out.” Cor said sternly, stabbing a poor innocent dummy.

“We told you, you would crack at some point.” Clarus laughed and took the sword away from the Marshal before he destroyed anything else.

“It’s a weird feeling. I know for certain I want to do this, but I want to run and hide at the same time.”

“Ardyn is probably feeling exactly the same.”

“He hasn’t got anyone to help talk him round though.”

“Yes, he has. Regis got a text from Somnus earlier, saying he is going to be Ardyn’s best man.”

Cor closed his eyes in joy. That was such a relief and it made him very happy. Okay, he was starting to feel more relaxed. Ardyn had someone to calm him down in case he felt like running, Somnus was coming to their wedding and he was coming as Ardyn’s best man. Good. There was no need for Cor to freak out. Everything was going to be…

“Fuck!” Cor shouted, kicking a sword rack as a wave of anxiety hit him.

“I thought that was what you wanted.” Clarus said in shock by his reaction. He thought he would be delighted by the news.

“It is. But now it means I have to dance.”


	5. Marshal and Mr Leonis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right so another story is done! A lot of fluff is in this final chapter, so I hope you enjoy the tooth rooting goodness that is this mess of wedding. 
> 
> I did say this was going to be the longest chapter, didn't I? 5800 words plus!! And where I am it is nearly 2 o'clock in the morning. Who needs sleep right? XD

“Clarus what adjustments were you talking about? What has Ardyn done?” Cor asked as the Shield led him down a few corridors after their talk.

Cor did not like the sound of last-minute adjustments, especially if it was Ardyn who had done the tweaking. Knowing his luck, that now meant that there was going to be a parade. That was the one thing Cor had definitely said no too. He could deal with fireworks, he could deal with it being broadcasted, and he could just about deal with the pair saying their vows in front of a few hundred people in the throne room. But he put his foot down to the notion of a parade. That would have cost more than what Regis was willing to spare and Cor considered that too over the top even for Ardyn. 

Clarus saw the look of discomfort on Cor’s face and smirked. “Something very sweet and thoughtful.”

They ended their journey at the end of the hallway and Clarus gestured for Cor to go in the room first.

_Right, it can’t be that big if it is in this room?_ Cor thought to himself holding his breath and opening the door.

When he saw what was inside, his mouth opened a little. At the centre of the room was the alter that should have been in the throne room, a few flowers and a series of blue and pink lights hanging from the ceiling. Cor scanned the rest of the room with his eyes and there were only a few chairs facing the altar and camera’s pointing in the direction of the alter too. It was simple but breathtaking all at the same time.

When Cor saw Regis smiling at him as he walked over to where he was standing all the young Marshal could say was: “What?”

“You’re no longer getting married in the throne room, you’re getting married in here.” The King said proudly patting Cor on the back.

“But… what about it being huge?”

“It will still be a pretty big event Cor. It is still being televised, and the feed will be shared in the throne room as well.”

“Ardyn knew you weren’t comfortable with doing this in front of hundreds of people you hardly know, so he changed it. Now, it is just the pair of you, close friends and family.” Clarus smiled waiting to see Cor’s reaction.

Cor didn’t know what to say. For starters, he wanted to kick himself for not coming up with this idea sooner. It would have saved a lot of hassle at the beginning of all of this planning. Cor felt kind of bad for Clarus as he was the one that had ordered and sorted out the flowers for today. At the same time, he was amazed by Ardyn’s semi-sacrifice in giving him a quieter union. Ardyn wanted this big, Cor knew how much this day meant to him and he had toned it down ever so slightly for his benefit. That was probably why Ardyn had insisted, yesterday, on going to the Citadel himself and allowing Cor to put his feet up for the day. He was a sneaky bastard sometimes.

Because Cor was caught up in his own thought’s he didn’t give Clarus and Regis much of a reaction, just a blank expression. 

“Are you okay?” Regis asked tapping his shoulder.

“Yeah… I fucking love that man.”

“Good to know.” Regis laughed. He looked at Cor and noticed that he wasn’t even in his suit yet, the King looked down at his watch and alarm bells started to ring in his head. “Would you look at the time, you’re not even in your suit yet. Get yourself upstairs at once!”

“Yes, your Majesty.”

* * *

Cor may have got his wish on something else as well. Ardyn was not turning up in a horse and carriage and he got a chauffer to come and pick him up in the Regalia. And unlike Cor, Ardyn was ready. He was suited up and for once was not wearing his hat. No matter what Cor said he was wearing it at the reception and to make sure he didn’t have to go back and get it he placed it in his armiger for safekeeping. Also, the brother’s were a little early so when the car was parked outside the Citadel, the pair waited in the car and Somnus gave Ardyn a brotherly pep talk after their driver had gotten out of the car to give them some privacy.

“Nervous?” Somnus asked, already knowing the answer to that question.

“Definitely.”

“Good.”

“Good?” Ardyn gasped, pretending to be offended by his brother’s choice of words.

“That is what you always say to me every time I have gotten married. It’s called repaying the favour.”

“You are a little shit.” Ardyn narrowed his eyes messing up Somnus’s hair with his hand. And yes, of course, he did that on purpose.

“That’s what all little brothers are.” Somnus replied smacking Ardyn’s hand and try to fix his hair before they were due to exit the Regalia. Ardyn was one to talk. The Founder King was going to get his own back later for that.

“Glad you can admit it.”

Ardyn smiled with joy in his eyes as he looked out of the car window. This all felt so surreal to him. This was the day he had dreamed about ever since Cor asked him to marry him. When Somnus woke him up earlier his first response was to panic. For some reason, Somnus had decided to be nice and get the pair of them up well in advance. Like 7 hours in advance and his sleepy excuse for a brother had not tried to have a single nap yet. But because of all the free time Ardyn had been given, he was calm. Nervous, because he was about to get married, but he felt at peace with himself and was not about to wipe this smile off his face.

“Ardyn? It’s okay if you want to have a mini freak out before we walk in.” Somnus said encouraging that type of behaviour for his brother to express.

Ardyn shook his head. “I am marrying the love of my life. There is no need to freak out.”

* * *

“Never thought I would see Cor the Immortal nervous.” Clarus laughed as he watched Cor failed to do his tie up for the eighth time, in the past five minutes.

“Clarus don’t make me change my mind and ask Regis to be my best man instead of you.” Cor bit back.

Why wouldn’t this thing just fucking do up. He had done a tie up so many times before, but now his hands were shaking, his fingers felt nimble and it just didn’t look right. Cor could feel himself grow more anxious as the clock ticked on and Cor didn’t know how to make this feeling go away. Cor thought that asking Ardyn to marry him was nerve-racking enough, but actually doing it was putting him more on edge. He didn’t understand why though. Cor knew he wanted to get married. Cor wanted this to happen as much as Ardyn did, so why was he behaving like a scared teenager going on their first-ever date?

As the sight of a grown man failing to properly dress himself got painful, Clarus walked over to Cor and batted his hands away and started to do the tie up for him. Cor did not fight the help. “This is normal. You just have to remember that this isn’t about anyone else. No one outside the pair of you matters today.”

“… am I doing the right thing? Did I rush this, Clarus? Is this what Ardyn really needs? If I die, he will go off the rails.”

“Woah. Hold on a second. What happened to the level-headed little spit fire we like to call Marshal Cor Leonis? You said it yourself you love that man. That is all that matters.” Clarus smiled, grabbing his shoulders. By the Six Cor was tense.

Cor was overthinking this too much now. He had got himself into a catastrophic mind set and both he and his best man hoped he would snap out of it soon. If Cor felt like this, he could only imagine what Ardyn’s brain was doing to him, especially being so close to Somnus.

_Oh fuck…_

What if Ardyn had butchered Somnus? That would be the worst thing imaginable to happen today. Cor didn’t think the stress of that would help either the King or Queen considering they had a little one on the way. Clarus would only get stressed too, Cid would give Cor another lecture about not marrying ‘that daemon’ and Wesk would probably sit in the corner looking after Dianella and little Gladio, while he had a mental breakdown.

Right, Cor had to calm down.

“Cor listen to me. Everything is organised there is no need to panic.” Clarus said again, feeling Cor get even tenser. What the hell was going through his mind?

Cor nodded slowly. “You’re right… I am still freaking out.”

“No shit.” Clarus laughed. He changed the amusement in his voice, it was quite funny seeing Cor lose his cool, to one that was calm and comforting. “Don’t worry, you have witnessed both mine and Regis’s wedding days and we were exactly the same. This is normal. When you look back at this, you will think yourself an idiot for thinking what is ever going through your head right now.”

“I can’t even imagine what is going through Ardyn’s head.” Cor said expressing a few of his worries on to Clarus.

But Clarus didn’t seem to share any worry at all. He patted Cor on the back and decided to wind him up. “You’re not the only one. I don’t think anyone knows what goes through his head, least of all himself.”

Cor did not find that funny. He hated it when he caught anyone making fun of Ardyn’s mental state. He had picked a few fights with some of the council members when they insulted his fiancée behind his back and he did not regret it, or back down when Regis confronted him about it.

Cor narrowed his eyes and spoke in a very serious tone.

“Clarus. I will ask Regis to take your place if you say that again.”

“I was only teasing. You biting my head off like that only proves that you would do anything for him. That is enough to know that you are doing the right thing. And if we don’t hurry His Grace is going to arrive before us.”

The pair made their way down to the room where Cor and Ardyn were now getting married. When they got into the room, Regis, Aulea, Dianella, Gladio, Cid, Wesk and the marriage officiant were already there

The marriage officiant was something Ardyn had insisted on and he had at least ten arguments with Regis over it. Ardyn simply refused to allow someone to bring him and Cor together if they were a man of faith. It wasn’t happening, zip nada. He didn’t care if the royal family had been given their powers by the Gods and that they still had to show the faith towards them, despite how much they had fucked over their family. None of them deserved his thanks or praise and he was not promising his life to Cor with their fucking permission. Cor didn’t argue. The Gods hadn’t done much for him, he had lived on his wit for the first half of his life and the other half he put down to skill and pure luck. And because it was their wedding day, Regis had to suck it up.

Even if it may cause a little up roar with the rest of Lucis. What did that matter anyway? Half of the population hated their family because of the wall, or lack of, and the other half just decided to move on with their own lives not really caring what the royal family did any longer. 

* * *

When Ardyn and Somnus got out of the Regalia they were ambushed by the fucking press. Of course, Ardyn lapped up the attention and would have been happy to talk to any of them. But Somnus was very wary of the time and had to call some of the guard to his aid and pull Ardyn away. When they were out of sight from the media, Somnus hit Ardyn on the back of the head and told him to stop being a giant pansy and hurry up otherwise they were going to be late.

As the brother’s walked through the hall, a thought dawned on the elder of the two.

“Considering I am the one walking down the aisle, does this mean little brother, you are technically giving me away?”

“Thank Eos for that. I will finally be shot of any responsibility I have over you.”

“You couldn’t control me even if you tried.” Ardyn rolled his eyes at Somnus’s remark. That was not entirely true, Somnus would still, and always, have more power over him than Regis did. It was very annoying but at least he would now have Cor to try and prevent him from doing stupid shit that would get him into trouble with his brother.

“On the contrary brother dear, you are easier to control than the world thinks.”

“Oh?” Ardyn asked in a demanding manner.

“It’s your wedding day. Let’s not argue.” Somnus enforced, trying to defuse what he had started.

Ardyn stepped in front of Somnus and stopped him from taking a step further. He didn’t care if he was now delaying his wedding. He did not like what Somnus had said and he was getting an explanation to what he meant, and he was getting it now. “I would like to know what you meant?”

“I mean… that in your old age you have become somewhat… predictable.” Somnus chose his words carefully, now he had gone and done it. On the one day, he had decided not to be an utter prick to his brother…. He had done it anyway.

“Call me that again, and there will be a funeral today as well as a wedding.” Ardyn warned with a growl and started making his way to the room, in front of Somnus rather than beside him. No fighting today. Cor would be upset if they did.

“Can I keep my head for one day please?” Somnus asked, cautiously following his brother.

“Only if you don’t piss me off.”

“I thought I was a little shit. Isn’t that what I do best?”

“You said it not me.”

They didn’t talk as they walked through the halls. On the way, the guard and glaive bowed and congratulated Ardyn on his wedding day. That helped Ardyn calm down a bit and he was delighted and thank them for their kindness. Before they turned the corner to the hallway that contained the room where Cor was, Ardyn stopped dead in his tracks. He pulled at Somnus’s arm to get him to stop, which confused and caused concern to radiate off the Founder King. Somnus didn’t pressure him to speak, he just waited for Ardyn to be brave enough to tell him what was going through his head.

“Som… you don’t think in doing this I am ruining his life, do you?”

Ardyn had spoken to Cor about this not long after everyone found out they were together. In doing this Ardyn was essentially taking Cor’s life away from him, because Ardyn would not be able to give what Cor was giving him. Cor was giving him his life and Ardyn was not even giving away a fraction of his. It was not a fair deal in Ardyn’s eyes, when they had that conversation Ardyn said he wanted Cor to be with someone he could grow old with. Who could give him the rest of his life, and devote the rest of theirs to his happiness. Cor told him he was being ridiculous and that was the first time the pair told each other that they loved one another. But Ardyn still had that fear in his heart, that he was not enough and would never be enough for Cor. 

Somnus smirked. “Not if you want Cid to turn you into car fuel, you wouldn’t dare.”

* * *

At 14:00 hours it was time for the cameras to be turned on. Cor had to breathe in a little when he heard the click because this was really happening. They were really doing this, and he could not get the butterflies to leave his stomach. He was so thankful that Ardyn had decided to change where their union was being held because if this was done in front of a hall of people, he didn’t even know he would have probably left by now.

But when Ardyn step through the door any doubt Cor had felt, left him immediately.

Suddenly, he forgot that the cameras were even on. He forgot his closest friends, the people who he considered family, were in the same room as him. Because Clarus was right. It was never about how the big day was or who was watching, it was about him and Ardyn. Cor allowed the world to see the smile on his face when Ardyn joined him at the front. He allowed the world to watch love fill his eyes and for once his worry about public affection melted. He couldn’t believe that he allowed his anxiety to blind what was truly important to him today. It was no longer going to. He hoped.

The marriage officiant started the union off, said whatever he had to, to make this wedding official and announced that Ardyn and Cor had decided to make up their own vows. Because Ardyn was of royal blood, as tradition, he went first. 

He took the ring that Cor was going to wear off of Somnus and placed it halfway on Cor’s left ring finger before looking into his eyes and proclaimed his love for the reckless Marshal. “I, Ardyn Lucis Caelum, take you, Cor Leonis, to be my lawfully wedded husband. I promise to cherish you, stick by you in sickness and in health, and I promise to love you forevermore. Even after you are dead and gone I will always, always, commit this vow to memory. I have never loved anyone like how I love you and I will strive to be worthy of you and pledge every waking hour to your happiness.”

He put the ring fully on Cor’s finger with a smile. Ardyn cherished this moment especially, as this was going to be one of the only times Cor was going to officially wear the ring that bound them together.

Cor got Ardyn’s ring from Clarus and stated his vows. “I, Cor Leonis, take you, Ardyn Lucis Caelum, to be my lawfully wedded husband. I swear to cherish you, stick by you no matter what, and I swear it until my death do us part. I am going to love you until the end of my days and I promise that I am going to stand by you even if you lose control of yourself and the world turns it back on you. Most of all I promise, I am never letting you feel alone ever again.”

The wedding officiant pronounced them officially married and the pair sealed it with a kiss.

After that, Ardyn, Cor, Clarus and Somnus went into a separate room to sign the wedding certificate and from there, Ardyn and Cor had to go and stand on the steps of the Citadel for the press and wedding photos. They held hands and they didn’t stop smiling at the world and each other. When they were allowed a break before the reception started Cor pulled Ardyn aside and devoured his lips with his own.

This was definitely the right decision and Cor was thankful that all of it had been captured on camera. He never wanted to forget this day.

“I love you.” Ardyn whispered pulling away.

“I love you too, Mr Leonis.”

* * *

Once everyone had settled in the grand hall, it was time for speeches. Both of which Cor and Ardyn were dreading.

“Please, Clarus tell me you haven’t written anything embarrassing.” Cor pleaded, but the Shield gave him a devilish wink and clicked his knuckles.

“What is a best man speech without any embarrassment?” Clarus laughed, tapping his chest to tell Cor where he had put the speech, and before Cor could beg him not to humiliate him in front of a lot of people he heard a sharp grunt coming from his husband.

He liked the sound of that. His husband…

“Fuck…” Ardyn slowly turned to Cor and the immortal being looked almost scared. “You were right about asking Somnus in advance.”

“Your fault if he says something nasty.” Cor rubbed his forehead. Maybe, they shouldn’t have asked Somnus to be his best man after all.

“What do you mean ‘if’?”

“And considering he is the Founder King, he has to be the first up.”

“Kill me now.” Ardyn pleaded, burying his face in his hands. Somnus was going to be plain nasty towards him he could just sense it.

“There wouldn’t be much point in that.” Cor laughed, taking Ardyn’s hand and kissing it gently.

It didn’t take long for the room to remain silent after Regis had said a few words concerning both Cor and Ardyn. He wished them a happy and long marriage and he said that words couldn’t express how proud he was of both of them. After that he passed the speech on to Somnus. Ardyn’s stomach dropped. This speech was going to be worse than anyone that Clarus could ever hope to give Cor. 

“My brother only asked me to do this last night, meaning I haven’t prepared anything. To start this off I am going to tell you all the truth. That is: Ardyn is a shit head.”

“Thank you Somnus, that’s quite enough.” Ardyn butted in, hoping that Somnus would not say anymore.

Somnus ignored him and carried on. “No, it’s not. My brother is not a nice person. He’s not a caring person and to be honest if he had the choice between saving my life or receiving a Chocobo for letting me die, he would always pick the Chocobo. There has been a time were that actually happened. My lovely big brother loves annoying everyone around him to the point where he makes people cry. Sometimes it’s funny and other times it is really not.”

“Somnus please shut up.” Ardyn raised his voice that time.

Somnus had made a thing about not trying to start an argument on his wedding day and here he was verbally insulting Ardyn in front of everyone. It took a lot for Ardyn to not wring his neck and it took everything Regis and Cor had not to intervene and call Somnus out for being a prick. Cor held on to Ardyn’s thigh and did his best to silently calm himself and Ardyn down. This was not how he wanted to start their first day as a married couple. Stopping his husband from violently attacking and killing his brother. 

Cid didn’t seem to care. He was rather enjoying watching Ardyn suffer. But he could tell that Somnus was making Cor uncomfortable and that was not on.

“See what I mean. You are a self-centred, envious, manipulative, boastful, and annoying daemon. To put it bluntly Ardyn you are nothing but a prick. All you have done over these last 2000 years is make my life a misery… and consequently your own life. Because of that, if you had asked me five years ago if I thought you could change and stop doing this to the pair of us and to the King’s we serve I would have laughed in your face. But ever since you and Cor got together, I have seen a change in you. And I want to say thank you to you Cor for giving me back my brother. Because of you, he is slowly changing back into the kind, caring person that he once was. And all of that is down to you. You make him so unbelievably happy and I haven’t seen my brother so happy in such a long time. I was beginning to think he didn’t know what it meant to be happy any longer. But the moment he sees you, he can’t help but smile. To me, that is only proof of how much he cares and loves you. It’s clear to me he would do absolutely anything for you and I am so grateful to you as you have done what I thought was impossible and healed him. Basically, thank you Cor and welcome to the family.”

Somnus finished taking a seat and all Ardyn did was stare at his brother.

He was taken back by the sudden change from pure venom to love during that speech and he knew Somnus meant every single word of that. Before Clarus got up to do his speech, Ardyn tapped Somnus’s shoulder so he would look at him.

“I… I love you too, Som.”

“Don’t get used to it.” Somnus grumbled, knowing he was probably going to get shouted at by Regis later for that stunt.

“I would never dream of it, brother dear.”

* * *

After the speeches were over, and they had cut the cake, Ardyn quickly pulled Cor away from anyone who wanted to talk to him and dragged him to the dance floor.

Cor’s eyes began to widen when he realised what was about to happen and flight mode started to kick in. He tried to pull his arm out of Ardyn’s hand but his husband refused to let him go.

“No, no, no.” Cor pleaded as he noticed that everyone had turned to watch them. He did not like this one bit.

“Come on, you promised me.” Ardyn smiled, halting at the centre. He put one of his hands on Cor’s waist and the other he held on to his hand.

“Why do I have to do this?” Cor asked reluctantly, mirroring what Ardyn was doing.

“Because you love me and I made Somnus my best man.”

“I can’t dance.”

Ardyn laughed and pulled Cor closer to him. “That doesn’t matter. All you have to do is get really close to me and look into my eyes. I will do the rest.”

The music started and now Cor really wanted to find a way out of this. A lump formed in his throat and all the anxiety he had felt this morning was creeping up on him again. “I am gunna fuck this up.”

“Then we will fuck up together.” Ardyn smiled and forced him to move. Ardyn led the entire thing and ensured that Cor looked into his eyes every step of the way. Ardyn started off slow so that Cor would get used to this new activity. Ardyn was rather shocked when Cor told him he had never danced with anyone in his life. But it didn’t help that Cor, kept looking away and quickly turning back as he realised that everyone was watching him. Ardyn kissed his cheek and whispered in his ear. “See, you are doing fine.”

“I don’t like this.” Cor admitted.

He remembered watching Ardyn dance with Lady Katherine a few years ago and being so jealous that it wasn’t him that Ardyn was dancing with. Now, he was regretting ever feeling that. He was not comfortable at all.

“But you’re a natural, My Marshal. I did tell you once before, that dancing is like fighting but only tamer.” 

“I think I prefer fighting.”

That made Ardyn smirk. To liven things up a bit, he hooked one of his foot underneath Cor’s to make him trip up. Cor fell backwards and Ardyn caught him laughing. Ardyn kissed him sweetly and rested his nose against his husbands. “Just relax and let your feet do the talking.”

Cor took that as a challenge. He did what he could to get Ardyn back, which ended very well in the dancing point of view and Cor discovered he was actually quite good at it. But he was unable to do that same thing that Ardyn had done to him. After the song had finished, everyone clapped and they were forced to start the ungodly task of small talk with the rest of the guests. Neither of them wanted to participate in that.

* * *

Once Cor found a free moment he went to speak to Somnus. He didn’t mention what he had said in his speech, as he didn’t want blood on the walls today, but he did give him a warning.

“Ardyn said because I am now your brother-in-law, I get to punch you in the face and there is nothing you can do about it.”

“Charming.” Somnus huffed. He was expecting more than that, but at least Cor wasn’t being as harsh as he could have been.

“So, you might want to watch out and if you get drunk like you got drunk at Regis’s wedding anniversary, I will push you down a well.”

“I thought we were meant to like each other.” Somnus said. He was actually looking forward to Cor being his brother-in-law but now he wasn’t so sure.

“You better watch out Grandfather. Ardyn now has someone in his corner.” Regis said joining in on their conversation.

“Ardyn always had Cor in his corner.”

“True. Cor, I need a word.” Regis said pulling Cor away from his Grandfather.

He took him to one of the corners of the room and Cor was a little shocked as to what Regis was doing.

“Yes, Reg?” Cor asked carefully, what had Cor done now?

“This will come as a shock to you but… if you hurt Ardyn you will bitterly regret it.”

“Huh?”

Okay… he had not expected that at all to come out Regis’s mouth.

“Cor you are married to the most feared being in history. You hurt him there will not be a soul that can help you. It’s not a threat it’s a warning.” Regis confirmed. He didn’t want to see either of them get hurt. But Regis had concluded that if either of them was to hurt the other, it would be Cor that accidentally did it. That would not be good on the rest of Eos if that happened.

Cor knew Regis was right. But the Marshal thought it would have been Somnus to give him that warning. Not his best friend.

“Thanks, your Majesty for the lecture.” Cor said, for once, asking his honorary big brother for a hug.

Regis gladly accepted the hug and decided to push Cor’s buttons. “Thank you for taking it on board. Uncle Cor.”

* * *

After a long wedding reception, Ardyn and Cor finally had a moment to themselves and they were going off to start their week-long honeymoon. And because Aulea had the little Prince brewing away in her stomach, it wasn’t allowed to be as long as they hope and they wasted no time going back to their house. Ardyn had already placed everything they would need in his armiger and teleported them away from Insomnia.

When Cor saw what Ardyn had prepared for him his heart skipped a beat. They were now at a haven in the middle of nowhere, with the moon shining down on them. In the centre of the haven was a tent that looked fit for a King. It had candles running along the outside of it and the tent was big enough to stand in. It was filled with cushions, blankets, a bottle of whisky and wine.

It was just perfect.

Ardyn wrapped his arms around Cor’s waist, from behind him, and rested his head on his husband’s shoulder. “Considering we have to limit our time on our honeymoon, I thought you would like to spend our first night as a married couple under the stars.”

“When did you set this up?” Cor asked, tilting his head to the side, still blown away with all the effort Ardyn had put into this.

“When Regis pulled you aside and started crying into your shoulder. All of it was fake mind you. Brilliant actor, guess it runs in the family.”

“I think you mean politician. You are just a hopeless romantic.” Cor laughed turning in Ardyn’s arms.

“Only for you.” Ardyn said softly, kissing Cor tenderly.

Cor smiled into the kiss and put more fire behind it. He held onto Ardyn’s waist and pulled him into the tent and refused to let this kiss end. He ripped off Ardyn’s jacket and before Ardyn could do anything, Cor pushed the royal onto the cushions and blankets and jumped on him, caging him with his body.

“I am not romantic, so just to make you aware... I am going to make you scream tonight, Mr Leonis.” Cor smirked bringing his face closer to Ardyn’s and placing his hand on Ardyn’s crotch, with no hint of innocence.

“Oh, Marshal Leonis... what are you waiting for?”

* * *

“I love you.” Ardyn said snuggling up to Cor.

“I love you too.”

Ardyn was so happy. He couldn’t believe that they had finally done this. They were now, Marshal and Mr Leonis. That was how he wanted it to stay for the rest of his life. He grabbed on to Cor’s hand and kissed his neck as he spoke words of love to his husband.

“I wish we could stay like this until the end of time. But I understand we won’t get that. I am going to make another promise to you. I will do everything in my power to continue to make you happy until the end of your days Cor Leonis. Just to let you know, I am never going to love anyone else again, not in the way that I love you.”

Cor’s grip got tighter on Ardyn’s hand and he gave him a greedy kiss before making him another promise. “And I promise to always be here whenever you need me. Whatever comes our way Ardyn, we will face it together. Because I don’t think there is anyone else that I could ever love more than you.”

“Unless we have a child.”

The pair burst out laughing.

Like fuck was that ever happening.

“We’d be hopeless.” Cor shook his head, taking Ardyn’s hand and placing it on his head so Ardyn would run his finger’s through his hair.

“Too right. It would have no hope with us as parents.” Ardyn agreed, doing exactly what his Marshal had requested.

“Here’s to the rest of my life with you, Ardyn.”

“Here’s to the rest of your life. Cor the Immortal.”

“Are you asking for a divorce already?” Cor asked side-eyeing him.

“Not in 2000 years.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The vows wouldn't really make much sense with 'the death do us part' bit, considering Ardyn can't die XD Anyway I thought it would be nicer if they came up with their own. 
> 
> But they are now happily married and have so many more surprise to come their way... Like a certain little stolen Niff Sunbeam!!!!


End file.
